For the first time in a year and two days, the Gabridoodle and the Chess Pirate did battle over the board. The action took place at Derby Joe (see Twitter and Facebook), a new café in Salem (it's on Derby Street a couple blocks east of Derby Wharf) that hosts an informal blitz tournament every Wednesday at 5:30.
The Gabridoodle enjoyed two wins and suffered two losses in his games with the non-CHESS-CLUB players. Based on what he overheard, the Pirate also had a mixed performance, though with the players struggling to adapt to her maniacally aggressive opening play. She had at least one en passant problem.
After several days of tense negotiations, the Pirate and the Gabridoodle agreed on a 10 minute game for The Shiny (officially, the Incumbent Champion's Medal). Despite lots of big talk and pre-game summoning of "energy," the Pirate was systematically dismantled by the Gabridoodle. He also helpfully instructed her on how to castle queenside. Anyway, the Gabridoodle thus retains the Shiny -- and for at least three months since the Pirate is going to be wintering in a tropical hell-hole again. They then played a 5 minute game just for fun; in this one, a thoroughly chuffed Gabridoodle shredded the hapless Pirate. The psychological impact of these defeats was severe enough that she had trouble finding her car afterward (it was parked on the same block).
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