Mowing the lawn at Gulu

It's not often that our friends at Salem Boardgames have back-to-back Mondays at Gulu Gulu, so you can bet that Salem CHESS CLUB made the most of the opportunity.

This time it was just the Gabridoodle and the Explorer who clashed over the chessboard.  Little Rhody, la Marmotte, the Pink Queen (and her consort the Townie), Crazy Joe, the Chess Genius, Scoot, and el Greco were present but involved in other (non-chess) games.

With help from Scoot, the Explorer learned about prophylaxis, drapes, and carpets.

Game 1: Gabridoodle - Explorer, 1-0

The Explorer began with an unusual knights-on-the-rim approach but soon demonstrated an obsession with the f2 square.  The Gabridoodle had to deal with that while simultaneously avoiding a nasty forking.  Once some debris was cleared off the board, the Gabridoodle's active rooks became very active indeed, delivering a lawnmower checkmate.

Game 2: Gabridoodle - Explorer, 1-0

The highlight of this game was a lengthy stalking of the Explorer's king.  Someone else might have found a quicker win, but even a woodpusher like the Gabridoodle was eventually able to deliver mate.