15 Mar 2013: the first annual Salem CHESS CLUB jamboree !

Although only four players showed up, the first annual Salem CHESS CLUB jamboree managed to set the CLUB record for attendance !  What's more, we had three observers: two of the Pink Queen's small fry and an unnamed personage who responded to the declaration of a chess emergency.  The emergency was declared when it looked like there was some chance the Gabridoodle and Chess Pirate might be the only attendees.

Top prize was a medal, which, unlike The Shiny, is actually the property of the winner.  The Gabridoodle may eventually wind up looking like a North Korean general.

The jamboree took place at the Jaho Café on Derby Street in Salem.

The results:

   1st place: Gabridoodle
   2nd place: Pink Queen
   3rd place: Chess Pirate
   4th place: Pink Queen's guest

Round 1

Gabridoodle - Chess Pirate, 1-0

The Gabridoodle was zapped for a rook in the wild and wooly opening but he didn't let this distract him.  He found his way to a quick checkmate (at left), the Pirate's adventure having won her a rook but left her king terribly vulnerable.  Sometimes it's all about position, not material.

Pink Queen's guest - Pink Queen, 0-1

Putting some of what she's learned in the school of hard chess knocks to work, the Pink Queen shredded her opponent, achieving a massive material advantage.  The Gabridoodle was quite astonished when he ambled over and saw the veritable forest of white pieces she'd collected.

Round 2

Gabridoodle - Pink Queen, 1-0

Thanks to some rather odd early moves, the Pink Queen's position collapsed quickly.  Rather than being the cat that plays with the mouse before finishing it off, the Gabridoodle was able to bring the game to a crashing conclusion by lining up a quick mate, seen in the photo at left.

Third place:

Chess Pirate - Pink Queen's guest, 1-0

The losers of the first round slunk off to a corner to vie for 3rd place.  The pirate wasn't kidding about being battered by the previous night's adventures.  Either that or the Pink Queen's guest was somehow inspired by his loss in the first round.  While the Pirate did eventually win, there were surprisingly few pieces left on the board at the end.  This is in sharp contrast to the shockingly sudden mates in two of the event's other games.

The invincible Bulgarian gambit

Once again, the Explorer and the Gabridoodle did battle at an event hosted by our friends at the Salem Boardgames Meetup.  This time the event was at the storied Highlands Clubhouse.  The main level was chock full of proprietary games.  We chess players and our decidedly non-proprietary Mexican equipment were exiled to the hot tub room and had a strip search been necessary, we might well have wound up hopping in.  However, our clothes stayed on and the Explorer exacted his revenge, winning both games.

Game 1: Explorer - Gabridoodle, 1-0

In this game, the Explorer uncorked the infamous Bulgarian gambit, which consists of some very, very strange yet profound king moves in the early going.  In addition to being distracted by the presence of the hot tub, the Gabridoodle was clearly rattled by this gambit.  What followed for him was kingside torment and eventual checkmate.

Game 2: Explorer - Gabridoodle, 1-0

Our next game featured a subtle variation on the Bulgarian gambit.  While not as effective as the orthodox version, it was effective enough.  In the end, a hot-tub-distracted Gabridoodle fell victim to an elementary trap thanks to his fixation on his criminal (passed pawn).  With the Explorer up a rook and about to execute the criminal, the Gabridoodle resigned.

Firing Alekhine's gun at Fritz !

The Gabridoodle, with the black pieces, went on to win after successfully employing the famed "Alekhine's gun" formation.

1 Mar 2013: kind of like a back-ranker

Thanks to great confusion earlier in the afternoon, the Chess Pirate was kind enough to serve lunch at today's meeting.  Her cooking repertoire is evidently not limited to Italian quiche.

While the Gabridoodle retained The Shiny, the real news of the day is that we have the First Annual Salem CHESS CLUB Chess Jamboree planned !  There may be a tournament of some sort, perhaps even awarding a shiny object (though not The Shiny).  New players are welcome and lessons can be given for the benefit of the inexperienced.  Stay tuned in case the arrangements change, but the current plan is that it will take place at Salem's Jaho Café on Friday March 15th at 2:00 pm.

In other CLUB business,                                                       .                        .                                                    .  However, the Pirate failed to truly grasp the reference to Catholic practices.

Gabridoodle - Chess Pirate, 1-0

Today was one of those days when the Pirate was determined to exchange pieces.  There were indeed a number of exchanges but the Gabridoodle was careful to hang onto his queen.  The Pirate made a valiant effort at putting him in a jam but he wriggled away and then sailed on to the victory shown at left -- a back-ranker but in the middle of the board.


The Pirate did at least get a number of choice comments in over the course of the game, notably:

"To the killing fields !"

"Big fucking deal.  It's a bishop."

"So chickenshit crawls away."

Just for fun, the Gabridoodle and the Chess Pirate next played a game of chess 960, aka Fischer Random with only 10 minutes each on the clock.  The starting position is shown in the diagram at left.  The game was neck-and-neck until the Pirate robbed the Gabridoodle of a bishop.  The Pirate then ground him down but much to her consternation, the Gabridoodle managed to lose on time before she could deliver mate.

25 Feb 2013: Jaho field trip !

Another field trip for Salem CHESS CLUB !  This time the destination was the Jaho café on Derby Street.  As if that wasn't unusual enough, this happened on a freakin' Monday !  Even our old friend the Chess Visionary expressed astonishment when she heard about this.  News still travels, even when you're on double-secret probation.

We started with the Shiny game, which the Gabridoodle won in short order (details below).  The reader will note the absence of the usual sharp commentary -- being at Jaho definitely promoted a certain decorum.

The Pirate didn't let this defeat get her down, however.  She proposed an experimental blindfold game !  Well, not true blindfold: the Gabridoodle was to keep his eyes open while the Pirate would keep hers closed but be allowed to feel the pieces.  The Gabridoodle was characteristically patient, for example, reminding the Pirate that the king doesn't jump over other pieces nor move three squares forward at once.  The Pirate became increasingly frenzied, impatiently demanding that the Gabridoodle move.  She then began making more than one move per turn, wildly tossing her pieces around, sending the game into a complete state of collapse.

But wait, there's more !   An attempt was made at playing Chess 960.  The Gabridoode had only a partial grasp on the rules for 960 but this game actually moved in a controlled fashion (unlike the "blindfold" game), with the Pirate eventually winning (the Gabridoodle blundered his queen away at one point).  The CHESS CLUB clock can generate Chess 960 starting positions, so this is something we may mess around with again in the future.

Chess Pirate - Gabridoodle, 0-1

The initial battle for the center in today's "serious" (ie, Shiny-awarding) game reached a brisker than usual conclusion.  In the middle game, the Gabridoodle fell behind in material but gained significant positional compensation.  So much so that he quickly regained the material edge while simultaneously bringing the game to a crashing conclusion on move 25 (see diagram).

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.