Going into the event, the score was 4:3 with the home team (i.e. me) holding the deficit. Tensions, of course, were extremely high (laughs) so, naturally, the event was scheduled in the Kastro Bar in Katakolo.
Mary came for battle with a friend. Was this fair? Noooooo!
It didn't make any difference, tho, as her friend didn't know how to play chess and didn't know much Greek either. Her friend is a sweet lady and she's funny and these are the most important things for the Tournament anyway.
Delirio was playing a set at Kastro Bar and ...
(Ed: Dude, is this about chess or what?)
Um, yes, good point. I'll write another article on Delirio as they were lovely and the Kastro Bar is a great place to be any time at all. In fact, there will be an orchestra playing there Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and I'm not sure what orchestra means but ...
(Ed: Ahem)
Right. So the game started out with an unusual opening from Mary and I went for the center board which is fairly predictable by now. My thinking is unchanged in that I can be clever and play to one side or the other but that's easily defeated by castling the other way. However, Mary shredded any standard opening but neither of us developed any significant advantage or made any significant errors for some while.
And that was when Mary blundered and tried to throw away her Queen. That's when, according to our rules, we will say something like you might want to review that one a little further, there may be additional considerations. If the player is determined to make the move then it's ok to go ahead and kill it but usually that doesn't happen. However, my nobility was played to a loss of a Knight which just goes to show that nobility plays well in romance novels but not on a chess board (laughs).
It wasn't long after that when I made a similar blunder with a significant piece and Mary evened up the nobility with the same comment. The rule is something like loss of a piece due to clever tactics from your opponent isn't refundable as it wouldn't be at all good to back up multiple moves. It's only the single moves that cause a raised eyebrow that go back a step.
So we were even on nobility but I still had a deficit in manpower and that was made worse through loss of yet another one. However, both of us remain dangerous until the last and we fought on. It looked quite likely that the game would result in my defeat but that result isn't confirmed until the King has given up and my King ain't giving up!
The End Game was a fascinating dance in which one is constantly doing a great deal of arithmetic in counting moves and/or trading strategy. I was playing for a stalemate as my deficit was too severe to have any hope of a win, not with her ability.
So I'm pleased to tell you it did play out to a stalemate and Mary said I was doing it deliberately, to which I said, hell yes, I was definitely playing for it. A stalemate isn't as good as a win but it's much better than a loss so each team takes a half a credit on this one and the score is now 4.5:3.5.
(Ed: Did you ever consider doing something normal people do like going to movies?)
It isn't that kind of a situation as we don't date. We just get together every so often to beat the tar out of each other! (laughs)
Mary came for battle with a friend. Was this fair? Noooooo!
It didn't make any difference, tho, as her friend didn't know how to play chess and didn't know much Greek either. Her friend is a sweet lady and she's funny and these are the most important things for the Tournament anyway.
Delirio was playing a set at Kastro Bar and ...
(Ed: Dude, is this about chess or what?)
Um, yes, good point. I'll write another article on Delirio as they were lovely and the Kastro Bar is a great place to be any time at all. In fact, there will be an orchestra playing there Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and I'm not sure what orchestra means but ...
(Ed: Ahem)
Right. So the game started out with an unusual opening from Mary and I went for the center board which is fairly predictable by now. My thinking is unchanged in that I can be clever and play to one side or the other but that's easily defeated by castling the other way. However, Mary shredded any standard opening but neither of us developed any significant advantage or made any significant errors for some while.
And that was when Mary blundered and tried to throw away her Queen. That's when, according to our rules, we will say something like you might want to review that one a little further, there may be additional considerations. If the player is determined to make the move then it's ok to go ahead and kill it but usually that doesn't happen. However, my nobility was played to a loss of a Knight which just goes to show that nobility plays well in romance novels but not on a chess board (laughs).
It wasn't long after that when I made a similar blunder with a significant piece and Mary evened up the nobility with the same comment. The rule is something like loss of a piece due to clever tactics from your opponent isn't refundable as it wouldn't be at all good to back up multiple moves. It's only the single moves that cause a raised eyebrow that go back a step.
So we were even on nobility but I still had a deficit in manpower and that was made worse through loss of yet another one. However, both of us remain dangerous until the last and we fought on. It looked quite likely that the game would result in my defeat but that result isn't confirmed until the King has given up and my King ain't giving up!
The End Game was a fascinating dance in which one is constantly doing a great deal of arithmetic in counting moves and/or trading strategy. I was playing for a stalemate as my deficit was too severe to have any hope of a win, not with her ability.
So I'm pleased to tell you it did play out to a stalemate and Mary said I was doing it deliberately, to which I said, hell yes, I was definitely playing for it. A stalemate isn't as good as a win but it's much better than a loss so each team takes a half a credit on this one and the score is now 4.5:3.5.
(Ed: Did you ever consider doing something normal people do like going to movies?)
It isn't that kind of a situation as we don't date. We just get together every so often to beat the tar out of each other! (laughs)
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