The “Gambits”

[Joe]

It is an occupational hazard. I'm an analytical chemist and I often find myself screaming at the TV when watching CSI shows.

Or...as a bartender, watching the bozo's toss bottles around behind the bar... are you a bartender or a juggler. Or... as a realtor..... these TV real estate shows are so contrived .... such as picking one of three homes to buy--- that never happens. Or rushing to get the house ready for open house.. when everyone knows you rarely sell a house that way. What you do is pick up leads for potential buyer clients (they're out looking, right?) or potential sellers(they're thinking of selling and are gathering info about values by looking around ).
In my bartending life I've listen to all kinds "analytical" discussions.....and.. the engineers/scientists win hands down. Ya gotta love 'em. btw, these are the guys who actually calculate their tips....(notice I didn't rate their generosity) doctors and politicians are the worst.... entrepreneurs or folks in sales are near the top, but the best tippers, of course, are waiters and fellow bartenders.

 

[Kings Gambit]

I would be interested in your comments after seeing the movie....

I've finally seen the movie (mini-series) while staying at a friend's house with a Netflix subscription. We looked it up and watched all of the episodes in one evening. It is indeed a excellent movie; very well done. I did not see anything in it that undermined authenticity with respect to playing chess. Serious players do study a lot, do see winning combinations several moves in advance, do resign a lost game many moves before its actual conclusion. Modern Chess Openings is an actual publication of which I have my own copy. Also, My Chess Career by J.R. Capablanca is a famous (and loved) story of the Cuban Chess prodigy. These were mentioned in the "movie." Prodigies do play simultaneous games in exhibition, do win all or nearly all of them.

The tournament settings were true. "Touch move" is a tournament rule; one does record her/his moves. We do punch clocks. There is prize money, sometimes in the thousands for winning, etc. Soviet International Grand masters did travel and play using "seconds." Those were Soviet state-supported jobs. Tournament games are sometimes adjourned with a sealed move. In the movie Beth did not have state-supported seconds b/c that's not our system. But is was comedy that her friends analyzed her last game, which was adjourned, all night to help her out for the final day of play. Actual play appeared authentic; moves and positions of actual games were probably shown. The human interest portion was credible. Gifted kids and prodigies of the arts (including chess) are often eccentric, not social, fall victim to substance abuse and die young or burn themselves out early in life--e.g., the comparison made with the American Grandmaster Paul Morphy, the "Pride and Sorrow of Chess." Good Movie. No comparison here with the goof-ball scenes of All is Lost. Those would be comparable to watching Grandmasters play chess with the pieces set up incorrectly on the board. Now that would be sad.

 

[Joe]

I've finally seen the movie (mini-series) while staying at a friend's house with a Netflix subscription. We looked it up and watched all of the episodes in one evening. It is indeed a excellent movie; very well done. I did not see anything in it that undermined authenticity with respect to playing chess. Serious players do study a lot, do see winning combinations several moves in advance, do resign a lost game many moves before its actual conclusion. Modern Chess Openings is an actual publication of which I have my own copy. Also, My Chess Career by J.R. Capablanca is a famous (and loved) story of the Cuban Chess prodigy. These were mentioned in the "movie." Prodigies do play simultaneous games in exhibition, do win all or nearly all of them. The tournament settings were true. "Touch move" is a tournament rule; one does record her/his moves. We do punch clocks. There is prize money, sometimes in the thousands for winning, etc. Soviet International Grand masters did travel and play using "seconds." Those were Soviet state-supported jobs. Tournament games are sometimes adjourned with a sealed move. In the movie Beth did not have state-supported seconds b/c that's not our system. But is was comedy that her friends analyzed her last game, which was adjourned, all night to help her out for the final day of play. Actual play appeared authentic; moves and positions of actual games were probably shown. The human interest portion was credible. Gifted kids and prodigies of the arts (including chess) are often eccentric, not social, fall victim to substance abuse and die young or burn themselves out early in life--e.g., the comparison made with the American Grandmaster Paul Morphy, the "Pride and Sorrow of Chess." Good Movie. No comparison here with the goof-ball scenes of All is Lost. Those would be comparable to watching Grandmasters play chess with the pieces set up incorrectly on the board. Now that would be sad.

Thanks, I'm inspired to watch the series again... it's only 7 episodes including the final... my kind of mini series.

 

[Kings Gambit]

I just finished reading the bookThe Queen’s Gambit by Walter Tevis. I don’t recall if noticed in the Netflix miniseries but the book title reflects Harmon’s opening as White with the Queen’s Gambit (Declined) in her final game. I think that culminates the story title with the (female) protagonist. Very clever! The option to accept or decline the gambit pawn is Black’s on his 2nd move. She chose that opening to avoid playing against the Sicilian Defense that probably would follow a King-pawn opening. Her own use and development of the Sicilian Defense as Black is a sub-theme of her chess playing career, but she did not wish to face an International Grandmaster and world champion playing against the Sicilian. (BTW-the Sicilian was Bobby Fischer’s most cherished response to the King pawn opening, 1. P-K4.)

I recently visited the World Chess Hall of Fame in St. Louis, returning home a week ago. There were scholarly exhibits documenting & describing the inclusion of the game of chess in various literature of the past two centuries, 19th & 20th, as well as further back. Publication date of this book is1983. Tevis died in 1984.

Of course, the book permits much greater insight into the fictional story than the miniseries, both for Harmon and for the game itself. It’s a good authentic piece of fictional literature. I think anyone out there who has played competitive chess (tournaments) would enjoy the read! It was a NYT bestseller.

 

[Kings Gambit]

There’s another book out there on my read list—similar material but not fiction.

 

[jssailem]

Back when I played chess in the 70's, the study of the Sicilian Defense was an eye-opener. I followed his competitions and was amazed at his insight into the mid and closing parts of the game. I am so out of practice it would be Fool's Mate in 2 moves.

 

[jssailem]

Regarding books,
I am enjoying the book "Be the Captain - a field manual" by James Evenson. It is not a book about sailing. It is about command. The author states: " it is about the kind of knowledge passed down between sailors over campfires. or on night watches.
When the wind builds, the gear breaks, and your crew looks at you for the answer,"

How will you respond?

Like so often happens on this forum, there are shared ideas. Many are sound. Some are agreeable, some are questionable, and some develop conflicting responses. That is the nature of seamanship. Sometimes there are multiple solutions. I consider the captain needs to have more than one solution to choose from, as no two challenges are identical.

Fair winds.

 

[Kings Gambit]

Back when I played chess in the 70's, the study of the Sicilian Defense was an eye-opener. I followed his competitions and was amazed at his insight into the mid and closing parts of the game. I am so out of practice it would be Fool's Mate in 2 moves.

I think that takes 4 moves.

 

[jssailem]

Maybe. But when it develops, you might as well concede and move on. Kicking yourself, of course.

 

[JamesG161]

Pawn to Queen 4 is my opening!

Fun game where Bishop power is revealed

Jim...