2+2 chess tournament!!!

[J_V]

Who's up for a 2+2 chess tourney? I'm a little out of practice, but I'd still rock you guys. I say we make it 5 0 on ICC. Respond if you want in. Oh, the bragging rights.

[Dynasty]

What happened to that game of risk? Now you want me to join ICC?

[daryn]

i would play, i love the game but i'm not good. but i will play.

[bugstud]

have it on FICS so it's free

[M2d]

Since it's a 2+2 event, include poker too! Then make it a three game rotation tourney by adding Checkers. You can call it the "2+2 Checker, Chess and Po..." on second thought, that might not be a good idea after all.

[Carlos]

[David Ottosen]

I will play if its on FICS, but I will be damned if I give Sleator another penny.

[chesspain]

I play on USCL and the Chessbase server. Can't see paying to play on a third server, especially since I haven't played any chess since taking up poker this summer. /images/graemlins/frown.gif

[Warren Whitmore]

[bugstud]

chesspain, FICS is the Free Internet Chess Server, I would sometimes play on USCL if I continued my USCF membership. FICS is a place worth playing, IMO. Best server of the lot.

[J_V]

I'm thinking maybe Wednesday at night. I need some feedback on that. FICS seems to be the place to do it. Some people seem to biased against ICC for some reason. I love the place, I got to talk to Nigel Short about the Grand Prix attack for an hour, who can beat that? Plus the inflated ratings are a nice ego boost.

[bugstud]

I would play ICC if it was free

[chesspain]

What is the web address for FICS? [n/m]

[bugstud]

www.freechess.org (http://www.freechess.org) for anyone not wanting to look the address up

[warlockjd]

I'm in for sure.

[J_V]

I'll play both games. At least with Risk I can blame it on the die. If I lose in chess, I'll blame it on the Russians.

[LargeCents]

Sounds like a great idea. Sign me up!

Be warned, I have been known to bluff in the opening.

[David Steele]

I will play if it is FICS or other free server.

D.

[Carlos]

How about a saturday or sunday afternoon (US time) in order to give me and other europeans a chance to compete?

Carlos

[Bokonon]

I'm always up for some blitz. Not *good* blitz, but what the hell, it's not like there's money on it, right? /images/graemlins/smile.gif

If you guys settle on where and when it'll be, shoot me an email here.

[ElSapo]

I'm in. Just tell me when, where and against whom to sac that E pawn.

[morgant]

I am new to 2+2(if that matters) but have enjoyed chess in the past. havent played since taking up poker a year ago... but if you need another player i am in.
morg

[magic_man]

[clovenhoof]

...aren't really that good?

'hoof

[MMMMMM]

ICC is best by far.

Also everyone can get a free 30-day trial on ICC (and I think you can get this free trial 4 times per year). Also 5 0 is too slow; 3 0 is the only good chess;-)

[MMMMMM]

they are at blitz though;-)

[J_V]

Agreed. 5 0 is too slow. But some players aren't necessarily seasoned, so we don't want to rush them.

[J_V]

I've played a few GM's in blitz and I played a few bullet games of guys 3000 or better. In fact, somehow I almost beat one of those bullet 3000 guys. So the next game he play 1.f3, Kf2, Kg3, Kf2, Ke1......and he beat me badly on the board and the clock...lol.

[J_V]

Let's try and shoot for Wednesday sometime. I know some of the Europeans want it in the afternoon, so we'll see if that's feasible. I'm gonna be out of town for the next two weekends so I can't do it then. I'll see if I can get this organized - but be warned - organization is not my forte.

[MMMMMM]

Now that is funny.

If you want to try an interesting opponent who is about expert level, try playing Ynot some 3 0 games. His openings are very odd and he is one tough cookie (at least for me). A very unusual style, too. If you play him a few games you'll see what I mean.

[J_V]

I've played him before a few times. It's been a while but he plays some cooky openings. I remember losing a few games trying to crack his crap openings. Doesn't he play f3 early...and often plays Kf2? I wonder what my record was against him.

[Dynasty]

[ QUOTE ]
Doesn't he play f3 early...and often plays Kf2? I wonder what my record was against him.

[/ QUOTE ]

When I started playing poker, I noticed a similarity between the "disdain" chess players had for opponents who played weak opening moves and poker players had for opponents who played weak starting hands. It was not uncommon for the "better" player to dismiss his opponents skill and get punished later for it.

[J_V]

I agree. One thing about chessplayers is that your rating means everything. As my friend said "Your not a name your a number." Heaven forbid you try and analyze a game with a player higher rated than you. They talk to you like they are all knowing geniuses and you could never be right. I'm guilty of it too. When someone questions me, it's easy to say talk to the rating.

Also, chessplayers always believe that their position is better and that they were "clearly winning." Arrogance in chess runs rampant.

It's rare you run into a player that plays weak opening moves that is halfway decent. There is too much justice in chess to allow for it.

[daryn]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In risposta di:</font><hr />
Also, chessplayers always believe that their position is better and that they were "clearly winning." Arrogance in chess runs rampant.


[/ QUOTE ]


just like party poker!

[Dynasty]

The f3, Kf2 thing is obviously somebody saying "I'm so much better than you that I can do this." It seems they're right much more often than they're wrong, especially in blitz.

[ QUOTE ]
It's rare you run into a player that plays weak opening moves that is halfway decent. There is too much justice in chess to allow for it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Many masters will intentionally play unconventional lines in order to take their less experienced opponents out of book very quickly. A simple example would be the first time I (as white) encountered 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cd 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Bb4. When you see 5...Bb4 for the first time, you're trying to figure out why this "weak" move appears to have cost you your e-pawn.

[karlson]

Hm. Just found this thread. I take it it hasn't gone yet. I'm in.

If it did go on Wednesday, who won?

[MMMMMM]

He does tend to do that early but I think not on the first two moves. He also is an endgame specialist and pretty good at combinations to boot. I asked him how his opening fared against much higher rated opponents and he said it did fine, but he got crushed in the middle game against them. He also said he had evaluated his opening on Fritz and it came out as a slight PLUS not a minus!?;-) So who knows. All I know is that he is an ineresting and tough opponent. Definitely better than me.

[Dynasty]

That's the type of thing Fritz wouldn't analyze well. The fact that he's getting crushed in the middle game should tell him it's seriously flawed.

Endgames are where masters truly outclass their lower rated opponents. Some masters who have studied endgames seriously will often crushed their fellow masters who haven't put in the proper study.

For those who haven't really studied endgames seriously (which is just about every player /images/graemlins/smile.gif ), I'd reccomend Lev Alburt's Just the Facts!. It's a good first-time endgame book for those ranked lower than USCF 2000. Shereshevsky's book or Capablanca's book is probably the best follow-up in combination with a problem book.

[MMMMMM]

I don't know, I thought that he was getting crushed in the middle game was due to his trying this opening against players rated hundreds of points above him;-)

Anyway if you have a chance, try to play him. It's worth the experience;-)

Maybe I should get that book by Lev Alburt. If I study chess, I want something very condensed and trimmed of all the fat since I prefer to waste most of my chess time playing not studying.