GM Susan Polgar gave a simul last night in Stone Mountain Georgia (just north of Atlanta). This was the first time I've played a GM, much less a world class GM, and it was a lot of fun. I believe she won all the games, and we had some strong players from the House of Pain there to play.
Check out Susan's blog from June 21-25, 2005 for posts with photos of her visit to Atlanta.
You can see how she demolished me here.
7 comments:
It looks like her moves in her game with you were just simple, logical moves. Not too aggressive, not too passive. Her advantage just sort of came about on its own accord.
Yes, the Colle is ready-made for that kind of attack. If you've ever played in a simul, you know that you are essentially playing rapid chess. The rule is you have to move when she returns to your board, and I'd guess we had a little less than 30 players total, so she moved fairly quickly. If I'd had more time, I'd like to think I'd have lasted a little longer and dulled her attack a bit better. But that would only prolong the inevitable against a player of her skill. I was spending too much time worrying about the center while her bishops lined up on my kingside, and then letting her knight come over was just too much.
At one point she stayed at my board for a good bit, and I'm humorously thinking to myself, "I've got her thinking... I've got her thinking!" Of course what she's probably thinking about is which of a handful of ways she'd like to finish me off!
What fun! Looks like you put up a respectable showing!
Her combinations aren't very deep. But a little deeper than you could see in such short time so to see.
It would only get worse then, as she finished off opponents. It would probably have been different if all 30 of you were masters.
I was one of the first ones to resign, but you're right, as the number of boards decreases it gets harder to keep up, especially since that's when the position can get more complicated. I've noticed that players giving simuls will definitely use that to their advantage, and will start walking very quickly from board to board when the number starts to dwindle.
Years ago I once won the participation in a simul of a new Swiss GM, 2400 or so. I managed to get a drawn position when only 3 were playing. He returned so fast that I had no time at all to think, and I blundered and lost. I should have played simple zero moves, just waiting. But I falsely thought I had «to do» something. Nice lesson this was.
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