…if it’s true that the Covid-19 pandemic is just a hoax aimed at reducing chess down to nothing more than a computer game -online my exploits shall be then…
…still proud of my county though (who I represent online now)…
…in taking inspiration from the song ‘Become a Machine’, by Chicago’s Harm’s Way, I may have a memory card implanted into my neck in order to assist with opening preparation…
…never slip up in the opening again…
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Some late night thoughts from someone with a wandering mind…
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Carlsen plays a number two and wins in the endgame. I have to admit, the losing move is an absolute shocker for someone with such a high rating -even I could see straight away it was wrong, as well as what he should have played. To what extent this victory exemplifies the fear factor in play when endgames arise in his games I don’t know but he clearly was aware that he was much stronger in the endgame than his opponent (and just about everyone else!). Maintaining the distant opposition in king and pawn endgames is a basic principle we all know but it just goes to show we are all fallible when under pressure. In the thumbnail below white has just played Kd3, allowing black to win with Kd6. Kd2 was the move that would have drawn the game.
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…come rain or shine tonight I shall be off to the chess club…
…an attempt to provide pictures of the route shall be made…
… (six hours on)…and here they are…
…me play only da six games afore de weather taketh a turn for thy worst in thee city centre beseeched by da protests, and moi a slow journey home above de riots…
Marcus McCreadus
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Today I posted the following on facebook:
Only the second reflection really matters…
Post-accident me
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Nine years ago today, I posted the image below on my fb account.
‘The magic of Karpov who is white to play against Uhlmann. He plays g4 here, the rationale being to cut of retreat squares for the black bishop, and help give the better ending.’
Mark
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I think I can hold it for the simple reason I can generate counter play.
If I stick the king on d6, I can push the e-pawn when the time is right. Whether I am right or not, I shall find out in due course. I also have the option of pushing the f-pawn to slow my opponent up.
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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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