28 Dec 2012: cheese and crackers

Celebrating the conclusion of Salem CHESS CLUB's first year, the Chess Pirate, always the gracious hostess, served fancy cheeses, crackers, and Italian orangeade.  The Gabridoodle's malaria was much better though he wasn't 100% recovered: the main game was a draw and then the Pirate won the blitz game, successfully defending The Shiny for the first time in living memory.

While there was no official discussion of CLUB business, there was lamentation of the on-going recruiting difficulties, the Gabridoodle admitting, "We'll take just about anyone."

Game 1: Chess Pirate - Gabridoodle, ½-½

The Pirate's many slashing attacks led to fairly brisk simplification.  Indeed, in less than 24 moves, it looked very much like a draw was brewing (see diagram).  And indeed, that's what happened.  The queenside pawn formation was blown to bits and the Gabridoodle was then unable to promote a pawn despite having a 3-to-2 advantage.  The quote-of-the game came, as it so often does, from the Pirate: "I'm a girl with a big swinging Shiny."

Game 2: Gabridoodle - Chess Pirate, 0-1
Time control: 10 minutes each

Despite falling behind a horse, the Gabridoodle was at least making the Chess Pirate dance.  As usual in a blitz game, however, the Pirate's impulsiveness was rewarded: the Gabridoodle lost on time.

21 Dec 2012: beer and muffins

Whatever the Gabridoodle has, it isn't Chess fever !  He was in a woozy state even before slogging through heavy rain to get to the Clubhouse.  After being plied with beer and muffins, there was no hope for him.  The Chess Pirate will get to have The Shiny for Christmas.

Chess Pirate - Gabridoodle, 1-0

The game began with an all-too-typical exercise in "chase the Gabridoodle's knight." Things then proceeded in a normal enough fashion until, through trickery, the Pirate robbed the Gabridoodle of his castling rights.  Not long after, the Pirate made what turned out to be the game's winning move (see diagram).  She gained a bishop and the rest was just a grim grinding down of the Gabridoodle.

In which the Gabridoodle stuns Fritz

At first blush, things are looking grim for the Gabridoodle (black pieces).  Fritz is ahead by a horse and a couple of pawns.  Surely, Fritz will torment the Gabridoodle with his extra piece and march those pawns to victory...

...unfortunately for the "Silicon upstart," the Gabridoodle sees a little combination that will save the day.  First, he moves his rook to a7 (it's protected by his bishop at d4)...

...naturally, Fritz moves his queen out of the way.  Of course, Fritz could have allowed the capture of the queen; that would have staved off immediate defeat but it would have been a whole new game...

...The Gabridoodle's castle then plows on through, delivering mate.

Aethestically striking formation

Fritz won this game, but at least we made a striking double "no man's land."

Brutal, epic, vicious triple-forking for Fritz

The Gabridoodle can report Fritz 12's rated games are much more interesting than the "friend mode" games.  Fritz has been winning most of the rated games, but now and then the Gabridoodle zaps him.  In this example, the Gabridoodle moved his knight to the square marked with the X and gave Fritz a brutal triple-forking.  Fritz's queen fell and resignation followed several moves later.

13 Dec 2012: a near-miniature transfers The Shiny (again)

[Note: today's write-up was penned by the Chess Pirate]

The Chess Pirate was beautifully adorned in a red silk sweater to match The Shiny, which she wore as a crown atop her regal head.

The Gabridoodle was spot on today [actually, he blundered away a bishop] and the Chess Pirate was distracted like a butterfly as usual.  In a sleek 32 minutes and in only 23 moves, the Pirate managed to throw both her rooks away with a fiddle-dee-dee flounce.  Once again, the Gabridoodle is the proud posessor of The Shiny, well fought and well earned.

Quote of the day [from the Pirate]: "I'm not even in check, ya moron !"

Fritz: humiliated !

The Gabridoodle has started playing rated games against Fritz.  He's losing more but learning more.  This game was an exception:  Fritz was defeated in only six, count 'em, six moves !

Gabridoodle - Fritz, 1-0

1.e4 g6 2.Nc3 e5 3.Nf3 d6 4.Nd5 Be6 5.d3 Ne7 6.Nf6#

Blundering to a win against SOS 5.1

The Gabridoodle blundered away a rook but suddenly discovered a win, a good old-fashioned back-ranker.  Arena is a free program, incidentally.

30 Nov 2012: the Pirate wins The Shiny

Despite being stricken by malaria, the Gabridoodle made it to CHESS CLUB.  The hostess was kind enough to serve him a cup of hot cocoa but this didn't stop the malaria from affecting his game: the Chess Pirate -- for the first time since June ! -- is in possession of The Shiny.

Gabridoodle - Chess Pirate, 0-1

The game began with a frenzied queenside attack by the Pirate.  This delayed the Gabridoodle's development, much to his consternation.  However, he was able to mount a reasonably good defense.  But then at move 8 (see illustration), he made a key error.  The Pirate had just captured his horse at c5.  Proving the adage that "to take is a mistake," he was impatient and captured the horse with his bishop which was then, of course, captured by the Pirate's queen.  He should have waited to get the material back: perhaps some shameless pawn snatching with his light-square bishop would have been a better idea.  After this, the Gabridoodle bled away a bit more material and never really recovered despite the Pirate's slothful kingside development.  While not a miniature, it was over in a mere 29 moves.

21 Nov 2012: pre-Thanksgiving horsing around

While everyone else was getting ready for Turkey Day travel, CHESS CLUB had an impromptu Wednesday afternoon meeting.

For the first time in quite some time, business was discussed.  Due to acrimony stemming from a draw at the previous meeting, some rules about The Shiny were proposed.  Basically, if there's a draw, the players can both agree to another regular game or one player can demand a blitz game.  Tentatively, it's been decided that 10 minutes each will be the time control for a Shiny-awarding blitz game.  Unresolved is the question of what happens if the blitz game is a draw: does the incumbent keep The Shiny or can the challenger demand another blitz game ?  Stay tuned !

Chess Pirate - Gabridoodle, 0-1
Time control: 10 minutes plus 30 seconds per move

The game began in the usual fashion, with the Pirate managing to prevent the Gabridoodle from doing his castling chore until move 12.  At move 9, the Pirate waxed almost philosophical, making a hum-drum move and then musing, "But really, what's the fucking point ?"  She then tried to distract the Gabridoodle by means of nose grease !  This may have rattled him in some subtle way, because he blundered a bishop away on move 18.  However, as usual, adversity was inspirational for the Gabridoodle.  At move 20 (see illustration), the Pirate's nose gear may have caused temporary chess blindness.  Instead of saving her queen from his horse, she castled long (perhaps proud of now knowing how to do so properly).  The rest was academic.

After this there was a just-for-fun (not Shiny) blitz game (five minutes each on the clock).  The Gabridoodle, as expected, lost on time but both players agreed that much progress was made.

Fritz uncorks Alekhine's Gun !

It was only a matter of time... Fritz (white pieces) finally decides to employ the famous formation known as Alekhine's Gun.

9 Nov 2012: a swindle and a self-swindle

The Chess Pirate wanted to play a quick game today, so naturally enough, we had one of CHESS CLUB's longest games, a 68 move drama-fest.  The game even had to be briefly adjourned due to a visit by the furnace repairman -- we tried but failed to recruit him !  We're not sure if he somehow didn't notice the Pirate's extra-sweet disposition or if something about CHESS CLUB overwhelmed / intimidated him.

Gabridoodle - Chess Pirate, ½-½

The Pirate, in command of the black pieces, was on her game today and also in an excellent mood, proclaiming at move 4, "Oh, chess is such a pleasant pastime !  Would you like another cup of tea ?"  A couple of moves later, she politely inquired, "Could you open this tin of biscuits ?"  At move 9, there was a brief discussion of insect consciousness.  By move 15 (illustration at left), she was putting a lot of pressure on the Gabridoodle.  By means of some very fancy footwork (ultimately ending in an exchange of queens), he was able to extricate himself from this jam.  At move 17, the Pirate mysteriously exclaimed, "Excuse me, have you seen my chapeau ?"

As play continued, the Pirate ground out an edge in material.  So jolly was her frame of mind, that when we got to move 30 she said, "You can either exchange castles or get off your casthole !"  By move 41 (shown at left), she was ahead by 2 pawns and had a horse that promised to be a severe nuisance for the Gabridoodle.  But here is where the first swindle happened.  The Pirate moved her horse to d3 and it was promptly captured (for free) by the Gabridoodle's bishop.

After the Pirate's horse was sent to the glue factory, the game turned around in dramatic fashion, the Gabridoodle proving that the king is an attacking piece and using it to gobble up the Pirate's queenside pawns.  Eventually, he promoted his a-pawn and the game should have been won at that point.  However, the Gabridoodle is such a notorious swindler that he couldn't help swindling himself, delivering stalemate at move 68 (illustration at left).

26 Oct 2012: in which the Pirate collapses in 27 moves

What could be better on a fine Friday afternoon in October than a fight for The Shiny ?  The Chess Pirate and the Gabridoodle met up at the Clubhouse for a game that, while not a miniature, certainly didn't take long.

Chess Pirate - Gabridoodle, 0-1

The Pirate got off to her usual textbook-shredding start.  At move 5, the Gabridoodle proudly announced, "See ?  I used the ponies.  You haven't even touched..."  She interrupted him, snapping, "Be quiet !"  At move 6, she made a truly ghastly blunder, blithely moving her queen to d5 (see illustration).  The Gabridoodle announced he was seriously thinking about resigning -- and the Pirate bought it !  Of course, he didn't resign, instead promptly using his pony to trample the Pirate's queen.  She didn't take this well, saying, "I hate you !  You suck !  This game sucks !  You suck !  Bastard.  Damn."  It's entirely possible that the Pirate's chess blindness was caused by cleaning chemicals; either that or a bad batch of Glazed Pope-ums.

The game continued.  The Gabridoodle thought he'd achieved checkmate at move 19, but he was mistaken.  Thus he inadvertently did The Exchange (rook for pony).  The Pirate remarked, "Dead end !  It's gonna be at least 50 [moves]."

Shortly after the Pirate proclaimed, "Don't give me any false checkmates !," the end indeed came (move 27; see illustration). This produced a particularly choice rant from the Chess Pirate.  Some highlights:

"Are you part of my therapy or something ?  Maybe you're here to help me with my logical skills."

"Fucking Shiny !  I've only had it once."

"Maybe I need a chess tutor or something."

From noman's land to a win

Gabridoodle - Fritz, 1-0

Noman's land is firmly established in the strategically vital center...

And then, awhile later...

Ha ha !  Ha ha ha !  Fritz !  It's time for the death march of the pawns !

All four bishops in a column !

Fritz and I get all four bishops lined up in a column.  The game ended in a draw, as usual.

Two queens aren't enough (again)

I'll get you for this, Fritz !

Fritz - Gabridoodle, 1-0

Benjamin Franklin on swindling

From the Chess Improver:

http://chessimprover.com/?p=7295

10 Oct 2012: welcome back, Chess Pirate !

Fall has descended upon Salem and, as we fervently hoped, the Chess Pirate has returned ! In this game, the Gabridoodle, fresh from blundering away a half-point the day before, came out charging... Or rather, waiting defensively while the Pirate came out charging with a classic display of crazed, textbook-shredding aggression.  Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose !

Gabridoodle - Chess Pirate, 1-0

The game was rich in good quotes.  At move 3, the Pirate said, quoting from Jersey Shore, "I don't need shame, I have integrity."  At move 13, the Gabridoodle sneered, "You're the one who didn't want pawn structure."  To this, the Pirate growled, "Maybe you need to stop talking."  A couple moves later, the Gabridoodle said, "I'm not puffing my chest yet.  You could turn this thing around."  The Pirate replied, "Stop talking !"  Then, her 15th move: capturing his bishop on h5 with her pawn (see illustration at left).  The Gabridoodle replied by grabbing her rook with his bishop.  This was a fatal blow to the Pirate but she put up a brave face, a couple of moves later exclaiming, "You're toast !  I'm taking The Shiny."  The Gabridoodle took this in stride, retorting, "If you steal it, I'll just order another."

And here we are at move 23 (see illustration at left).  The Gabridoodle just moved his rook to from f1 to b1, remarking, "No place is safe."  For the first time in the history of CHESS CLUB, the Pirate hissed !

The rest was academic.  At left, we have move 35.  The Chess Pirate is checkmated !

9 Oct 2012: in which lesbian queens do something unspeakable

The Pink Queen and the Gabridoodle decided to lock horns on-line at FICS.

Gabridoodle - Pink Queen, ½-½

The Pink Queen played well, avoiding any crazy blunders and generally refusing to fall into any of her opponent's traps.  The Gabridoodle was playing a stolid, decidedly non-brilliant game but also avoided any blundering.  The Pink Queen missed a chance to do an en passant capture (the Gabridoodle explained that the Chess Pirate refuses to believe in the rule and that this can be exploited when playing her). Eventually, as seen at left, things were all locked up and a tense confrontation well and truly underway.  Incidentally, the Gabridoodle did soon move his king to f1, an absolutely essential defensive play.

After a little more thrust and parry, the Gabridoodle blasted open the kingside wall, eventually promoting not one, but two pawns ("I demand lesbian queens !," he cried). Even before getting the second pawn to Fran's Place, the Gabridoodle had the game in the bag; the second queen was just for showing off.  However, pride went before the fall: his lesbian queens made a monumentally epic fail, delivering stalemate, as shown at left.

Interesting game with tense standoff

A very tense standoff...

...in an interesting game.

Gabridoodle - Fritz, ½-½

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6 4.O-O Bg7 5.Nc3 Nh6 6.d4 cxd4 7.Ne2 Qb6 8.Bd3 Ng4 9.Nf4 0-0 10.Nd5 Qa5 11.Bf4 Qc5 12.Nc7 Rb8 13.Nb5 e5 14.Bg3 d5 15.exd5 Qxd5 16.Nc7 Qd6 17.Nb5 Qd5 18.Ng5 a5 19.Ne4 Bf5 20.Nc7 Qd8 21.Nb5 Bxe4 22.Bxe4 Qg5 23.Nd6 Qf6 24.Nc4 Nh6 25.Qd2 Ng4 26.Bf3 h5 27.Bxg4 hxg4 28.Nxa5 Qd8 29.Nxc6 bxc6 30.c4 g5 31.b3 Rc8 32.Qe1 Qd6 33.Rc1 Rb8 34.c5 Qd5 35.Qe2 Ra8 36.Qxg4 Rxa2 37.Qxg5 Qxb3 38.Bxe5 f6 39.Bxf6 Rxf6 40.Qe5 Raxf2 41.Qe8+ Bf8 42.Rxf2 Rxf2 43.Kxf2 Qb2+ 44.Qe2 Qxc1 45.Qe6+ Kh7 46.Qf5+ Kg8 47.Qg6+ Kh8 48.Qxc6 Qxc5 49.Qf6+ Kg8 50.Qe6+ Kh8 51.Qe8 d3+ 52.Ke1 Qc1+ 53.Kf2 Qb2+ 54.Kg3 Qe2 55.Qxf8+ Kh7 56.Qf7+ Kh8 57.h4 Qe1+ 58.Kg4 Qe2+ 59.Kg5 Qe4 60.Qf8+ Kh7 61.Qf7+ Kh8 62.Kh6 Qe3+ 63.Kg6 Qg3+ 64.Kh6 Qe3+ 65.Kh5 Qg3 66.Qd7 Qe5+ 67.Kh6 Kg8 68.Qxd3 Qg7+ 69.Kh5 Qxg2 70.Qd8+ Kg7 71.Qe7+ Kg8 72.Kh6 Qc6+ 73.Kg5 Qa4 74.Kg6 Qc2+ 75.Kh6 Qc6+ 76.Kg5 Qa4 77.Qe6+ Kh7 78.Qf7+ Kh8 79.h5 Qc2 80.h6 Qc3 81.Qf8+ Kh7 82.Qf7+ Kh8 83.h7 Qa5+ 84.Kg4 Qb4+ 85.Kf5 Qa5+ 86.Kg6 Qb6+ 87.Kh5 Qc5+ 88.Kh4 Qc8 89.Qf6+ Kxh7 90.Kh5 Qc5+ 91.Kg4 Qg1+ 92.Kh4 Qh2+ 93.Kg4 Qg2+ 94.Kf5 Qc2+ 95.Ke6 Qe2+ 96.Kf7 Qh5+ 97.Ke7 Qg4 98.Qf7+ Kh6 99.Qf6+ Kh7 100.Kf7 Qg3 101.Qf5+ Kh6 102.Qe6+ Kh5 103.Kf8 Qf4+ 104.Qf7+ Kg5 105.Ke8 Qa4+ 106.Qd7 Qe4+ 107.Qe7+ Qxe7+ 108.Kxe7 Kh6 ½-½

In which Fritz accepts a draw and becomes a stoner

Nasty, dirty forking with a bishop !

This one eventually ended in a draw, but here I gave Fritz's rooks a nasty forking with my bishop.

An amusing little swindle

Fritz - Gabridoodle, ½-½

Fritz had the white pieces and I had the black.  It looked like my goose was cooked but with all that empty real estate around his king, I was able to deliver check after check after check.  Thus I turned a loss into a game destined to end in a draw either by threefold repetition (as happened) or by the 50 move rule.

17 Sep 2012: our longest game ever ends at Gulu

The longest game ever in the history of Salem CHESS CLUB came to a crashing conclusion tonight at Gulu Gulu.  The game lasted nearly two months !  The Gabridoodle and the Pink Queen began this game on July 18th on-line at FICS.  It was adjourned by the Great Essex County Twister of 2012 which cut power (and hence interwebs) at the Gabridoodle's command center.

Gabridoodle - Pink Queen, 1-0

This is the position at the middle of move 12 when the game was brutally adjourned by the Great Essex County Twister of 2012.  The Gabridoodle has already sent his ponies to the glue factory but the Pink Queen has no bishops.  Some holes have already been ripped in the Pink Queen's pawn structure.  For the next several moves, she tormented the Gabridoodle with her knight.

Here, at move 18, the Gabridoodle has initiated a confrontation between the queens.  Note that he's also got a sneaky bishop pointed straight at the Pink Queen's rook at h8.  Her best option would have been to capture the Gabridoodle's queen and then after he recaptured with his bishop, save her h8 rook.  But perhaps being cross with the world, she instead moved her king to e7.  Thus the Gabridoodle wins a rook.

Here we are at move 33.  The Pink Queen makes a second key blunder (though at this point, the game was the Gabridoodle's to lose).  Instead of grabbing his c4 rook, she instead moved her king to b6.  The Gabridoodle of course took her rook and all she got for it was the bishop.  At this point, the Gabridoodle was ahead by two rooks and two pawns and the Pink Queen's king fainted, ending the game.

12 Sep 2012: another half-point swindle !

The need to get a doorknob fixed unexpectedly brought the Chess Pirate out of hiding.  This was thus the first CHESS CLUB meeting that featured both a trip to the hardware store and the Gabridoodle putting on a display of mechanical dexterity by installing a new doorknob in one room while standing in another.

Gabridoodle - Chess Pirate, ½-½

Training with Fritz has added briskness to the Gabridoodle's play; consequently, no time control was used (or really necessary) for this game.  The Chess Pirate wore a sombrero in an attempt to distract and/or intimidate the Gabridoodle.  The sombrero didn't really work its magic, but the Gabridoodle did fall behind in material early on, dropping a pony.  Around move 30, the Chess Pirate viciously forked him, gaining a decisive advantage.  Nevertheless, they fought on until the Gabridoodle pulled a bunny out of the hat on move 53, swindling the Pirate for a half point by means of stalemate !

In which Fritz gets the shock of his life

The Gabridoodle won a freakin' 19-move miniature against Fritz -- this time ending with mate, not Fritz's resignation !

Fritz - Gabridoodle, 0-1
1.e4 e5 2.f4 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.fxe5 Nxe5 5.d4 Neg4 6.e5 Qe7 7.Qe2 d6 8.exf6 Nxf6 9.Qxe7+ Bxe7 10.Be3 d5 11.Bd3 Ng4 12.Nd1 Nxe3 13.Nxe3 Bh4+ 14.Ke2 O-O 15.Nxd5 c6 16.Nc7 Bg4+ 17.Ke3 Bg5+ 18.Ke4 Rfe8+ 19.Nxe8 Rxe8# 0-1

18. Ke4 ...

18. ... Rfe8+

19. Nxe8 ...

19. ... Rxe8#

First SPS, now SRR

Little Rhody already coined the term SPS for Shameless Pawn Snatching.  In a game with Fritz just now, the Gabridoodle (playing black -- always okay) baffled his computer nemesis with a SRR: Shameless Rook Raid.  The going hypothesis is that the raid confused Fritz, causing him to mark time with the aimless rook moves.

Greetings from our friends' mascot

Our friends at Salem CRIBBAGE CLUB have a rather unusual mascot; he sends us his greetings !

Little Rhody makes a funny and gets promoted

As a reward for making a funny in reference to a recent game at Gulu, we are proud to announce that Little Rhody has been promoted from candidate member to full member.

Informal game at Gulu with Little Rhody

We welcomed our newest candidate member, Little Rhody, with this informal game played at Gulu Gulu.  Once again, the Gabridoodle proved that, as one book title has it, "black is okay."

Little Rhody - Gabridoodle, 0-1

Being a n00b, Little Rhody began with some rather unusual queenside pawn pushes.  The Gabridoodle sarcastically remarked that if it worked, he'd note it with TN for theoretical novelty.  Despite this vicious commentary, the game proceeded amid a friendly enough atmosphere.  When Little Rhody attempted to move a bishop from b1 to b2, there was much merriment.  At move 24, she coined the abbreviaton SPS for Shameless Pawn Snatching (ironically, she was the one grabbing the pawn).  At move 31, she announced that she knew what the Gabridoodle was going to do.  When he made an ominous bishop move (green arrow in the illustration), she had to admit that this wasn't what she expected.  The end came soon after, as shown in the other illustration.  The Gabridoodle delivered a brief post-game lecture on pins, forks, skewers, and -- though it wasn't relevant to this game -- Alekhine's Gun.

Watch out for the Missus !

Although the Chess Missus didn't win this postprandial game, she played notably well and really made the Gabridoodle sweat for the win.

Gabridoodle - Chess Missus, 1-0

The game couldn't have had a more orthodox opening.  But eventually things got tense, then violent.  The Chess Missus faced a dilemma: aggressive play is normally rewarded and yet putting the Gabridoodle in a tight spot causes him to rally, playing better, often getting out of trouble and going on to win.  To some extent this is what happened here.  As already noted, the Chess Missus played well, getting zapped for a rook but subsequently zapping the Gabridoodle for a rook.  She was even ahead in material at one point.  However the Gabridoodle uncorked a couple of nasty surprises.  The most dire for the Chess Missus was a criminally-minded passed pawn that was protected by a knight: she had to either say goodbye to her rook or let the pawn promote.  Promotion it was and after shocking king move (to e2, as shown in the illustration) the rest was cut-and-dried.

15 August 2012: Our first official on-line game !

Salem CHESS CLUB is back from something of a summer vacation -- talk about a forced move !  There's been some leadership turmoil and it isn't clear if Her Majesty is actually an unseen yet omnipresent goddess or merely a pirate.

Today, an innovation !  Salem CHESS CLUB has had its first virtual meeting !  The Pink Queen and the Gabridoodle played a game at the Free Internet Chess Server.  Their user names are letusplaypong and gabridoodle, respectively.  We encourage club members to set up an account there.  There are various graphical interfaces; one that works well with Windows is Babas Chess.

We'd also like to say hello to our new friends at Salem CRIBBAGE CLUB !

Pink Queen - Gabridoodle, 0-1
Time control: Fischer, 10 minutes + 30 seconds per move.
Played at Free Internet Chess Server

The Pink Queen began with aggression, as usual, but this time it was  more of a spirited attack rather than a crazed, frenzied offensive.  The Gabridoodle knew that he would have to focus on doing some fancy defensive footwork before he could even think about seriously going on the attack.  This, indeed, is how things played out.  At one point, the Gabridoodle even gave away a bishop in exchange for positional compensation.  The Pink Queen made one howler of a blunder (involving a rook) but cleverly declined to exercise the takeback owed to her by the Gabridoodle, saving it for another game.  The quote of the game came at the position illustrated at right.  Having moved a rook to d1, the Gabridoodle exclaimed, "Into the meat grinder you go !"