Congrats to Fussy Lizard

Fussy Lizard (aka Chris) just finished the MDLM program!

I know personally what a grueling ordeal the program is, and Chris made it through with very impressive stats. Go on over to his blog and congratulate him.

Rude Chess Players

Ever encounter a rude chess player? I've heard some wild stories, but I find that 99% of chess players I meet in tournaments are very nice and professional. I've never had anyone try to cheat, such as letting go of a piece and then quickly grabbing it again, claiming they never let it go (as Kasparov did in his first encounter with Judit Polgar at Linares 1994).

Most Common Disturbance

Two players start analyzing a game after finishing in the tournament room while others are still playing. They usually talk softly, but it disturbs everyone until someone finally SSSSSHHHHHHHHHH!!!'s them.

Most Amusing Disturbance

A young teenage girl had apparently finished her game early and was playing "step on the other person's foot" and giggling with her friend, ten feet from my board. I looked up and politely said, "Please," and they left.

Most Annoying TD Experience

The TDs for the tournaments I play in are top notch and very professional. I tend to presume they have ultimate authority and abide by whatever decisions they make. When I was 14, my Dad and I played in a tournament (some small club) and my Dad won Top Unrated and a trophy. Only the TD decided to give his friend the trophy, and fed my Dad a bunch of double talk. My Dad threatened to report him to the USCF. He gave my Dad the trophy.

As far as my own personal most annoying TD experience? It was mild. My opponent was 20 minutes late to the game, and when he arrived his father was with him and told me to add the 20 minutes back to his son's clock. I refused. We started playing. A little while later the TD shows up with Dad and tells me to add the 20 minutes. Apparently the father and son had prearranged something with the TD. That's fine -- nothing wrong with that. But the TD should have told me before or at the start of the game what was going on.

Rudest Player

The rudest player I ever encountered (and this is mild compared to some stories I've heard) was two pawns up, but I managed to find a forcing sequence that led to a perpetual check. After repeating the position three times, I made my move, said "Draw?" and pressed my clock. My opponent ignored me. We made a few more moves. Now this was one of my earlier tournament games as an adult, and I should have just stopped the clocks and gotten the TD right then. But I looked up at my opponent, who was way ahead on time, and I said, "Are you going to acknowledge a draw by repetition?" My opponent said, "You'll run out of time before I will." Apparently he was content to repeat the position for hundreds of moves and wait for my flag to fall! I got up (I didn't stop the clocks, which I should have, but I had plenty of time for what I was about to do) and got the TD. The TD took one look at the position and said it was a draw. My opponent stormed out of the tournament room.

I Don't Mind Losing, But I Do Mind Sucking

"I don't mind losing, but I do mind sucking," was Derek Grimmell's comment after he missed a mate in two and drew a tournament game. He recounts this painful memory in an entertaining article at Chess Cafe where he reviews three books and a CD about chess tactics (requires the free Adobe Acrobat reader).

He also shows us a rather painful high-level encounter between GM Hikaru Nakamura and FM Stephen Muhammad:

Nakamura - Muhammad

Black just played 27...Ra8-b8?? All of you on the MDLM plan should find Nakamura's response within three seconds. Grimmell's article has the solution.

I know most players prefer to only share their brilliant victories, but in keeping with the theme of this post, here are some of my worst tournament blunders.

Holmes (1500) - Kilgore (1680)

I've just played 26...Rd8?? to add a defender to my d-pawn. My opponent quickly replied with

27.Qh4+

Free rook. Yum. Suprisingly, I later achieved a rare x-ray attack and got a draw by perpetual check. Better yet in the drawn position I had a forcing mate combination, but I was so thrilled to see the draw I didn't look any further.

Kilgore (1763) - Shaw (1678)

I'm already in trouble with this game, but it's playable. 23.Rd3 is probably best, but instead I wanted to trade down and played

23.Re3??

I had only looked at 23...R1xe3 but of course my opponent played

23...R8xe3

winning a whole rook and the game.

Moon (1308) - Kilgore (1677)

This game got me to swear off G/45 tournaments. I'm a comfortable piece up with an easily won game. So I decided to simplify things by forcing a queen trade.

40...Qd5??

My young opponent got the most amazing smile on his face and played

41.Ne7+

and you can stick a royal fork in this game because it's over.

No One Here Gets Out Alive

Continuing on with my plugs for IM Timothy Taylor's articles on How to Defeat the Weaker Player, he now has Part 3: No One Here Gets Out Alive. This month covers a weaker player's lack of opening knowledge. Sorry, but this is a waste in terms of instructional value. A player strong enough to exploit an opponent's leaving theory doesn't need to be told any of this.

Of more interest at Silman's site this month, however, is a review of an interesting new book, Experts vs. The Sicilian. Reviewed by IM John Donaldson, this book offers a White repertoire in the Open Sicilian. This stuff isn't easy to find. You have the standard Beating the Sicilian 3, by GM John Nunn and GM Joe Gallagher, but beyond that I've only found very restrictive repertoires, like GM Nigel Davies Taming the Sicilian, in which he recommends fianchettoing the light-squared bishop whenever possible -- not exactly the system to strike fear into your opponents. Here's another look at this interesting new book and a review by Carsten Hansen.