An odd variation at Derby Joe

Derby Joe, a funky little café near the House of Seven Gables in Salem hosts a chess gathering every Saturday at 11:00.   Today's shindig featured a battle for The Shiny.  In that blazing-fast 5 minute game, the Chess Pirate stripped her own king naked and soon paid the price: the Gabridoodle was able to thump his chest like a gorilla and keep possession of The Shiny.

After this excitement, which was followed by the usual indulgence of piratical vanity, the Pirate insisted on doing something "interesting."  "Interesting" turned out to mean a game with this crazy starting position:

A coin was flipped to determine who went first.  The Pirate won the toss but lost the game, the Gabridoodle being able to adjust to the variant's theoretical implications quickly enough.

16 December 2015: the winter of the Pirate's discontent

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).