Take the white pieces! Place your bishops on e2 and d2?? Go chasing after the a-pawn (still on a7) with your queen?!? And you pay the price because checkmate ends the game!
Not a particularly satisfying victory, I shall have to change engines soon. I’m thinking of Monarch 1.7 (ELO2100). Definitely still beatable. Coming soon methinks.
MJM
Posted in Life beyond the chess board | Leave a Comment »
For the all the right reasons, I have abandonded online chess for once and for all. Now I only play Lucas Chess, against the engine Cinammon 12.c (ELO1930). Here’s how easy beating it can be.
Easy peasy.
Mark. J. McCready
Posted in My Own Games | Leave a Comment »
Crafty McCready is at it again with trivia Q’s geared towards discombobulation than being answered. Here’s the latest. Care to give it a go do you?
Posted in Chess | Leave a Comment »
Back in blighty a.k.a me old stomping ground, a very great many club and county players exhibit both strengths and weaknesses which are not entirely disimilar to one and other. The reasons for this are variable but a trait more commonly found amongst them mentioned above is too much attention paid to their moves and position and not enough to their opponents moves and position. But who doesn’t like to do what they want to do, or put differently, pull off what they think will bust their opponent in one way or another.
In deciding to invest both time and effort into this whimiscal experiment I conjured up on the khazi whilst walking past some bogs, I have realized that the nature of the play I am attempting to win with exhibits a weakness I have attempted to eliminate by implementing what I read in my youth. But since my games were charaterised by drawish openings and positional play, this was not the necesssity it now is. The transformation in style I have begun playing with requires good calculation skills and tactical nouse; neither of which I have been any good at since I’ve always believed evaluation triumps over calculation. Ye olde electronic friend has a penchant for counterplay and the little git is rather more gifted at it than I to say the least.
I have noticed that I am not considering candidate moves in the way that I learnt from Kotov long, long ago. Below is some of his thoughts, which when implemented should help me to consider not one but several moves that electronic pal of mine might spring on me. It is a weakness that must be attended to on the double.
That above, gleaned from that masterpiece Mr & GM Kotov affectionately penned characterizes the way I go awry whenever I mistakenly tell myself ‘I am winning’ or ‘I got the position won now’ or worse still as well as more likely ‘I can win this anyway I want now.’ How much truth lies in the platitude ‘pride comes before a fall’ there is, know I do not. For myself pride and the colatteral it gets clobbered by comes after the fall.
However, it matters now. Learning is a life long process there is no escaping from whether you like it or not, even for old geezers those of us going grey.
That’s all from he who thinks he’s funnier than he is aka Mark. J. McCready
I do hope you, who reads what is written here, learns that you are never too old to learn. Which, unfortunately, is a barrier a great many place in front of themselves mistakenly.
Posted in My own endeavours, On-line journal, Personal Interest & Experience | Leave a Comment »
Given the nature of the style of play I have adopted, the importance of the result has been conflated. Quintessentially, my play can be defined most profundly in terms of sacrifices and attacking chess combined -hopefully with a devastating and winning attack.
The experiment which initiated this radical transformation of play began some seven weeks ago. What I first noticed was that I often obtained winning positions but failed to convert them. This became increasingly frequent, making it something of an embarrassment if I am being honest. I realized as soon as I thought I had the game won, I took my foot off the pedal and all too often lost the victory I was so sure was mine.
Upon reflection I realized that I was making a mistake I had learnt not to make from reading GM Jonathan Rowson’s book ‘The Seven Deadly Sins of Chess’, which was recommended to me whilst participating in the 2011 BCC open in Pattaya by friend and playing partner Ron Hoffman. To fix priority number one, I thought it best to read the first of Jonathan Rowson’s publications, and also his best, and have placed the content from the chapter where he discusses the nature of the mistake I have been making, as well as some suggestions on how to fix it.
In case you don’t know GM Rowson is a celebrated author too and has a Ph.D from Oxford on wisdom. He’s an exceptionally clever man and very knowledgeable about chess. Even super GM Lev Aronian once said the book that helped him improve his chess the most was the aforementioned title above. By all means enjoy the content below.
Mark. J. McCready
Posted in My own endeavours, On-line journal, Personal Interest & Experience | Leave a Comment »
If you are daft dedicated enough to have followed this blog from the hallowed antiquity which it emerged from, you may have noticed there isn’t a great deal of chess in it. Not in terms of games and analysis. That’s more unintentional than idiosyncratic since I haven’t played that much competitive chess this millenium, and not that much at all since my daughter Grace was born. Just blitz games down the club nearest and online stuff that I will regret having started for many years to come. All it did was alleviate boredom and make me much worse than usual.
Anyway omwards and upwards I go with my electronic friend but there is a lot that needs work on and adjusting to. You could say that since I stopped in 1997, I haven’t played much since, not really, not in terms of competitive chess. Nothing like the 496 games I played before I stopped. But that’s okay, I like how it’s going .
A whim which became little more than some ad hoc experiment has resulted in me playing aggressive sacrificial stuff when I don’t mess things up and are unable to. I’ve won 28 games only and nearly won many, many, many more than that. Computers don’t give up and throw the towel in like humans do. They also understand the importance of counterplay much more so.
But the very good news is, I know what needs to be done and that it will take time. I don’t need much assistance. And I won’t start the next millenium off like this one on the chess front if I continue to get into it (sincere apologies for the attempt at humour). As you know, very few live for 3 or more mileniums (that is also not funny but off the wall, so that’s okay).
If I follow this through, all that will come of it is that I will go from being an average club player to a strong club player but will enjoy it more. Pyrric victory is it? Not quite. Nietzsche would call it a manifestation of the will to power, which is principally a life-affirming entity/phenomena/drive (to use his term), which some not so interested in him might think that’s what he thinks intentionality is or something along those lines. I swear it’s got nothing to do with getting bored easily or lack of a better idea, let me make that very clear. Even if that were the case I wouldn’t be able to own up either‘
Most people are creatures of habit and comfort and how they experience chess doesn’t change so much over the years. In fact it is possible to redefine how you approach it and experience it even late on in life because its much more challenging and quite enthralling if you can get into. Thankfully for those with such an obssessive mindset, this comes by itself anyway…and so on we go.
Very soon if not with immediacy I will start posting and commentating on my games. This I will enjoy, then you’ll realize although I can talk a good game, I’m just an average club player really but a well educated one at that.
Ressurection not no ressurection is the sum total of it. Speaking of which, here’s a number you could have a sing along to down the boozer with someone on piano. Do have a listen. I swear it’s nothing like hardcore metal, more like, er chas and dave. And yes of course the title of the post is from that song, which I got into in April/May 1989.
Please note, I am well used to being told to drop the duff jokes all the time, so comments to that affect I can’t guarentee a reply to. If it drops to less than 300 a day, I might reconsider things…well maybe. Bob Monkhouse once said, ‘when I told people I was going up on stage they were laughing at me, but when I got up there, they weren’t laughing then’. One day I might just follow in his footsteps… .
England’s self-proclaimed funniest man in chess, and also somewhat sometimes playful, ends with the words ‘Be seeing you.’
Mark. J. McCready
Posted in Humour, On-line journal | Leave a Comment »
Chess is taken far too seriously, lacks humour and is overtly conservative, right? Just say yes whether you agree or not. There are no good jokes in chess.
Score out of 10 for how funny you think that is are most welcome.
Like fuck they are!
Me give it 7.
Posted in Humour | Leave a Comment »
The thing I was better at than anything else ever was photography, not only did I know this myself but I was also told this by a very great many others or thereabouts. There is a corrleation between chess and photography…care to know what it is? I’m not sure how obvious this may appear but the results achieved in both are entirely dependant of the complexity of the decision making procedure involved in what you strive for. In photography talent is usually defined as being something you have an eye for whereas in chess is more so like something you have a feel for (well at the higher levels). Expertise, is of course, a prerequisite of both.
You may find a post in this blog which offers some generic advice but admittedly, I could have put more into it. The forth pic below is my all time favourite pic, taken very near my home.
Posted in My own endeavours | Leave a Comment »
I’m not having the best of winters, I’m really not. But what else can I say except do take care if you go climbing ladders, some are much easier to fall off than others!
I had a three week holiday where I did indeed want to visit the chess club but due to unforseen circumstances, this was not possible.
Finally, I have to concede it’s no longer worth going as it’s too difficult to work out how I can get there, courtesy of my limited mobility. Walking is still a problem, and I don’t want to be getting up out of and sitting down on different chairs all night long. It’s a bit ambitious to think that’s achievable to say the least.
So no chess club again it is, and that’s that.
MJM
Posted in Life beyond the chess board | Leave a Comment »
What’s the plan for today then for bedridden me, unable to walk anywhere, coutesy of the two bad accidents I had in the same day, where I learned the hard way that it’s far better to climb ladders than it is to accidentally fall off them and smash your knees and feet up after hitting the floor hard.
Here’s what I posted on social media about how today will unfold.
Mark. J. McCready, Asia
Updates on today’s chess.
I have to bring it to a close earlier than expected today. I am unused to being discombobulated by my own results. I play very aggressively, often seize the initiative and completely outplay the machine but then I go all wierd and make a complete mess of it. I am yet unable to work out why this keeps happening and left me in a state of disbelief. Before I was born my mother was told there’s no doubt he’ll grow up to be a useless bastard who is crap at everything. That’s not quite true but I have very little ability to assess me own chess and have left myself incapable of working out how things are going so badly wrong with such regularity. This may be because I haven’t had enough time to adjust to, and improve on the style I have adopted for the first time in my life. Most don’t normally change their style of play and I certainly never have. Perhaps it’s to be expected it will take some time before I can get it right, I don’t really know. I just know I keep letting myself down, and its making me wonder whether its really worth it or not. Even though I am putting more effort into it than ever before and enjoying it, my play does not exemplify this and it’s already becoming too embassing to continue on with.
I always think I know what I am talking about and I don’t like it when I can’t work out what’s going so badly wrong. I really should know already but just perhaps, I do need more time to adjust to the radical transformation in my play I have defined my play by. Perhaps I am being impatient as well as unwilling to address the situation. I will promise myself to take a closer look at my games to anaylyze how I go wrong but I am not confident this will change anything, and I amy just have to accept that when I am so gung ho I will get shot down. I am unable to define how chess played in the style I play is experienced. Never in my life have I wanted to stick it to my opponent so much and sacrifice left right and centre. But I am happy to say for the most part I really enjoy it until I cock it up. I was hoping to stay with the adopted style but perhaps it will only ever become something best forgotten about and not to be repeated as I am not good enough to pull it off.
Most importantly of all I am very happy to express much interest in my own chess. The engagement and purpose is more important than what was achieved by it, which remains undefinable courtesy of it overpowering me to disbelief. Hopefully I will remain impressive with my intentions and manifestations of engangement in my own play will develop further, something almost impossible to believe for a good thirty years easily I value contentment more than improvement and have done for quite some time. If I can somehow fuse the two together I will be very impressed with myself. It’s not the norm that I take much interest in my chess and never has been; therefore, it must be welcomed with astonishment or alternatively suspicion as it sounds to difficult to believe and must be a pack of lies. WIsh me luck.
And that concludes McCready’s thoughts on the day proving once again I am by far the greatest useless bastard on the planet and always will be as everyone knows.
Mark. J. McCready
Posted in My own endeavours, On-line journal | Leave a Comment »
A side note on how to read old Tom Sweby's columns
Not perhaps, but quintessentially, Old Tom Sweby is best thought of as a passionate devotee to the newspapers he wrote for. He was well read and knowledgeable of the Bedfordshire chess scene and well beyond, given that he was the president of the S.C.C.U. once upon a time. He was generally well-respected and rubbed shoulders with many, if not all, of those eminent within British chess circles. It would, however, be a critical mistake to see his column is primary source material entirely. That it is not. You will also find secondary source material quoted too, and the reliability of that is not quite as Tom hoped. Given that he wrote for decades, this is to some degree inevitable, and after all we are all prone to error whether we realize it or not. Thankfully, with regards to old Tom Sweby, they are infrequent and for the most part old Tom continued to document events and developments in the Bedfordshire league from the get go as best he could but, of course, everything lies open to interpretation. Despite this, and generally speaking. this does indeed make him informative and thus worth reading. Dare I say his columns constitute a narrative describing the latest developments, match reports and changing nature of the Beds league...he knew his audience and wrote according. This manifested itself over decades but brevity was always in play courtesy of the restictions imposed by writing a column. Should you wish to read a in instrumental figure of the Beds' league post WW2, you are quite welcome to peruse what has been posted here... . :-) I should, however, point out that as the decades wore on he gradually moved on away from narratives concerning the Bedfordshire league towards affairs both historical and international. The reasons for this are multifarous, old age was a predominante factor presumably, however, the bottom line is with regards to how the Bedfordshire chess scene developed post WW2: old Tom Sweby is your go to guy. He wrote more about chess in Bedforshire than anyone else did but given he was a Lutonian and writing for a Luton newspaper there is both bias and greater coverage of his hometown than the rest of the county.
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