The conclusion of chess tournaments always brings a heady cocktail of emotions into the mind of the happy or depending how the round went, unhappy amateur. 11 round tournaments are particularly nasty to those of us whose competitive chess consists of the odd league game, and bouts of 3 minutes blitz whilst a drunk in the nearby corner tries to understand the names of the pieces. The physical exhaustion, the 8 straight days of constant emotional and mental strain, and that was just trying to deal with the joys of Australians. Add in some heavy chess games and you are absolutely broken. The last time this 30 year-old played this sort of schedule, was as an 18 year-old at Nationals, and whilst the mind is willing, the body is tired. Couple this with the flu at the end, and you have excuses worthy of David Haye.
The funniest and most predictable thing about the conclusion of chess tournaments was immediately seen upon conclusion of the tournament. You are broken, tired, and have no urge to see a chess board. Yet, if MER had a dollar for every time after a major tournament a friend had come up to him, normally on about 5/11 saying "This time next year, its a 2000 rating for me", then he would have about $16. Its amazing, the hope is there, you start thinking about perhaps you need to change your openings, maybe lets embrace some dodgy gambit. Or perhaps you have been spending too much time with GM's, and you decide to work on endgames. Either way, the hope is there. Its fleeting, unlikely and almost inevitable you won't get there, but you soldier on anyway. Its the great joy of chess.
The last few frenetic days of the tournament continued as they had begun, a whirlwind craze of nights spent drinking with GM's, the undoubted highlight being the absolute demolition of the Bird defence. Short of strapping a hydrogen bomb to a sparrow, there can be no better response shattering of the Bird than watching a 2520 GM demolish it with 1f4 g5, whilst having less than 40seconds on the clock against a solid 1800. For the non-chess players among you, its the equivalent of demonstrating golf supremacy by electing to use only one hand. Unbelievable. MER even had a blitz shot at the GM, but suffered severe stage fright and was horribly pummelled.
The tournament concluded with an exciting climax as Gawain Jones monstered his opponent, and Nigel Short beat Pablo Lafuente. With scores locked, the winner would be determined by an arcane system of tie-breaks that would require several advanced degree in mathematics and a large supply of cocaine to understand. As a result of Dave Smerdon pulling a swindle on Watu Kobese and winning a game that looked as tenable as a drunks self built tree-house, Gawain was declared the winner.
Its a couple of days later now, and MER didn't attend the after-party or prize giving, primarily as a result of the flu that had kept him out of action for the past few days. Its monday night, and he is planning his next adventure, an attempt to ride the 94.7 in a respectable time. But whilst sitting with his Captain and coke, he does feel strange urge to log onto chess cube and play. Its like a scene from Fools and Horses, with the phrase being mangled to "Next time this year, I will be 2000". Well, that's the thought anyhow. As an insurance policy I decided to donate a couple of boards and sets to a local chess club that needed it. There's probably a better chance of the 2000 coming from there. Its been amazing, chilling with GM's, bouncing back and forth in games that resembled a war, and meeting all the old war horses that we haven't seen for years. Now, all we need to do is get GJ to organise it once again in two years...
All the best
MER
Monday 4 July 2011
Saturday 2 July 2011
Final round beckons for MER
Just a brief post to keep you up to date. Since the last traumatic event where MER managed to totally blow a winning position, things have been relatively quiet at the tournament. The subsequent round saw MER manage to scrape a draw against a former junior national champion. Unfortunately MER has been down with flu for the past 3 days including that one, and will update once the final round completes today. He managed to scrape a solid win against a 1730 from CT last night, in a game more noteworthy for its grind than its glory. Going into the last round, he is on 6/10. The top is chaos, with Nic van der Nat having a brief leaderships stint.
More to follow after the game today.
More to follow after the game today.
Thursday 30 June 2011
Flaming Lamborghinis car crash MER's hopes at the Commonwealth
Well, it was fun whilst it lasted. Its been awhile since the last post, and MER has just finished round 8 of the tournament, where he currently sits on 4.5/8. The bane of every chess player, he has massive regrets about the last 2 games.
But lets recap, at last time of mention, the Commonwealth tournament was going strong, and MER was recovering from an shameful loss after abandoning his beloved Kings Gambit like a Premier League footballer abandons the local tramp in the dodgy nightclub. He was on 1/3, and things were looking dark and dangerous. The next day the 2 games played were against children. In the first, the WP Under 14 girl, Olivia Bernstein managed to build a strong promising position against me, with moves played with the precision of a Swiss watch maker. Fortunately, experience does count in chess, and MER was able to pounce on a small error, much like a seagull on a hot chip. 1-0 and 2/4
The next game was against an unknown small boy. Here MER brought the kings gambit back into his bosom, and was immediately rewarded with the shortest tournament game he has ever played, with a new queen arriving early on. Perusing through current opening literature, he is fairly confident that the e4 e5 f4 f5 variation of the Kings Gambit will not take on, and accordingly has named it the "I would rather resign than play a game of chess variation" 3/5
Then came an epic encounter. In the left hand corner, with the white pieces was Andrew Horne, club mate of MER, and man sitting on 8.5/10 in the league this season. A performance rating on 2100 in the league, due to slashing tactics more often seen in Sin City than on the chess board. Playing black, MER. Armed with a toothpick, and a shotgun under his coat in case Andy decided to play the infamous Bird defence which he planned to blow out the sky. Andy hower demurred, and after e4 MER played the unexpected c5, which enabled him to stun Andy. A totally crazy slugfest ensued, with Andy having better chances, but in a scene reminiscent of Foreman vs. Ali, he overextended, allowing MER to rip off the queens and convert and endgame. 4/6
The next match was against a tough 1890. MER's preparation immediately failed to deliver, and he was put under early pressure early on. However, drawing on all his blitz experience of the last 3 years, his animal east rand cunning, and lots of luck he managed to get to a slightly better endgame. However, his current bout of flu, coupled with more cowardice than a white man in Hillbrow conspired to allow him to take a draw offer. The streak was still alive 4.5/7
Then the game today, the big game that MER had been building up to. Preparations for the game were somewhat spoilt in that the LOC function took place the previous night, and as LOC reporter, MER decided to tag along. However the combination of large numbers of GM's, a fairly large bar tab, and the inevitable desire to demonstrate that South Africans can imbibe alcohol more than Australians. MER was pacing himself well, until the flaming lamborghini drove into his skull, and left the sort of immediate effect that a large sledge hammer will have on an orange. This was followed by several games of pool, where certain players demonstrated that the correlation between ELO a pool skill is similar to the correlation between African rogue elephants and pygmy koala bears being good at maths. The night concluded at the very late 2:30am, which is fairly ridiculous for a school night. Still, MER had been drinking coke for the last 3 hours so he was confident with rest and recuperation he would be fine for the game at 3pm. Nay not so. Work raised its ugly head, and between work and admin, only 6.5 hours of sleep were achieved. Not ideal for the game.
Chess can compare itself to sport in the most painful ways. Thing Liverpool - AC Milan as an AC Milan supporter, or SA cricket 1992 to current day. It can hurt. Any sitting in the lovely tournament venue as people stream out, MER is hurting, ripped and gutted by a stupid swindle that Bernie Madoff would have scorned. It was probably the best game of the tournament from MER's perspective, pieces smoothly intermingled and strode across the board with arrogance, 2 black bishops laughing at the meagre attempts of block footed knights to try and tame them. And then, at the height of imminent glory, MER's brain went into total meltdown, and he missed the easiest win of all, walking into a trap that cost the game.
There is no other sport that does this. Golf you stuff up, worst case you lose 2 shots. Rugby worst case is a red card and 7 points. Soccer, a single error costs a goal. This costs everything, all 4 hours of work consigned to the mental toilet of 2 move blunders which cascade across the mind like horrible re-runs of Titanic for hours afterward.
The tournament itself has been stellar. Dave Smerdon was speaking to use earlier, and reckons the biggest mistake we make is that we give the GM's and higher rated players too much respect. He's probably right. The final tournament standings are looking unbelievably close at the top, and its still all up for a whole cluster of GM's to win it. Check out the tournament parings and results on the main website to check it out. Signing off is a wounded, despondent Muppet who will now commence to seek solace.
But lets recap, at last time of mention, the Commonwealth tournament was going strong, and MER was recovering from an shameful loss after abandoning his beloved Kings Gambit like a Premier League footballer abandons the local tramp in the dodgy nightclub. He was on 1/3, and things were looking dark and dangerous. The next day the 2 games played were against children. In the first, the WP Under 14 girl, Olivia Bernstein managed to build a strong promising position against me, with moves played with the precision of a Swiss watch maker. Fortunately, experience does count in chess, and MER was able to pounce on a small error, much like a seagull on a hot chip. 1-0 and 2/4
The next game was against an unknown small boy. Here MER brought the kings gambit back into his bosom, and was immediately rewarded with the shortest tournament game he has ever played, with a new queen arriving early on. Perusing through current opening literature, he is fairly confident that the e4 e5 f4 f5 variation of the Kings Gambit will not take on, and accordingly has named it the "I would rather resign than play a game of chess variation" 3/5
Then came an epic encounter. In the left hand corner, with the white pieces was Andrew Horne, club mate of MER, and man sitting on 8.5/10 in the league this season. A performance rating on 2100 in the league, due to slashing tactics more often seen in Sin City than on the chess board. Playing black, MER. Armed with a toothpick, and a shotgun under his coat in case Andy decided to play the infamous Bird defence which he planned to blow out the sky. Andy hower demurred, and after e4 MER played the unexpected c5, which enabled him to stun Andy. A totally crazy slugfest ensued, with Andy having better chances, but in a scene reminiscent of Foreman vs. Ali, he overextended, allowing MER to rip off the queens and convert and endgame. 4/6
The next match was against a tough 1890. MER's preparation immediately failed to deliver, and he was put under early pressure early on. However, drawing on all his blitz experience of the last 3 years, his animal east rand cunning, and lots of luck he managed to get to a slightly better endgame. However, his current bout of flu, coupled with more cowardice than a white man in Hillbrow conspired to allow him to take a draw offer. The streak was still alive 4.5/7
Then the game today, the big game that MER had been building up to. Preparations for the game were somewhat spoilt in that the LOC function took place the previous night, and as LOC reporter, MER decided to tag along. However the combination of large numbers of GM's, a fairly large bar tab, and the inevitable desire to demonstrate that South Africans can imbibe alcohol more than Australians. MER was pacing himself well, until the flaming lamborghini drove into his skull, and left the sort of immediate effect that a large sledge hammer will have on an orange. This was followed by several games of pool, where certain players demonstrated that the correlation between ELO a pool skill is similar to the correlation between African rogue elephants and pygmy koala bears being good at maths. The night concluded at the very late 2:30am, which is fairly ridiculous for a school night. Still, MER had been drinking coke for the last 3 hours so he was confident with rest and recuperation he would be fine for the game at 3pm. Nay not so. Work raised its ugly head, and between work and admin, only 6.5 hours of sleep were achieved. Not ideal for the game.
Chess can compare itself to sport in the most painful ways. Thing Liverpool - AC Milan as an AC Milan supporter, or SA cricket 1992 to current day. It can hurt. Any sitting in the lovely tournament venue as people stream out, MER is hurting, ripped and gutted by a stupid swindle that Bernie Madoff would have scorned. It was probably the best game of the tournament from MER's perspective, pieces smoothly intermingled and strode across the board with arrogance, 2 black bishops laughing at the meagre attempts of block footed knights to try and tame them. And then, at the height of imminent glory, MER's brain went into total meltdown, and he missed the easiest win of all, walking into a trap that cost the game.
There is no other sport that does this. Golf you stuff up, worst case you lose 2 shots. Rugby worst case is a red card and 7 points. Soccer, a single error costs a goal. This costs everything, all 4 hours of work consigned to the mental toilet of 2 move blunders which cascade across the mind like horrible re-runs of Titanic for hours afterward.
The tournament itself has been stellar. Dave Smerdon was speaking to use earlier, and reckons the biggest mistake we make is that we give the GM's and higher rated players too much respect. He's probably right. The final tournament standings are looking unbelievably close at the top, and its still all up for a whole cluster of GM's to win it. Check out the tournament parings and results on the main website to check it out. Signing off is a wounded, despondent Muppet who will now commence to seek solace.
Tuesday 28 June 2011
Day 3 of Commonwealth - Dave Smerdon The Aussie GM on test match cricket, why he plays shit openings and the joys of eating tuna and bread as a pro.
Its around 23:00 on a "school night", and MER was trying to acclimatise his mind to the nebulous interior casino lighting, which does not change throughout the course of the day, and sets the mind to delusion central. Word on the street was that Dave Smerdon, the Aussie GM playing in the event had finished his game, and was chilling at an Indian restaurant with several other glitterati of the tournament, including Gawain Jones, the English GM, his mate from Aus, Tristan Stevens, and several other notables. Nigel Short also popped by (note the skilful namedrop there!) and MER decided it was time to pretend to be 2800 Larry King/Piers Morgan, although performance-wise we are looking at more a 1500 Kermit concept.
Upon first impression of seeing Dave, I thought he looked like an extra from an Avril Lavigne Skaterboy music video. Long T-shirts and jeans are de-rigeur for this man, though occasionally he can be spotted, like an exotic piece of wild life wearing some form of headwear. He immediately distorts the image of the nerdy chess player (although he claims that's exactly what he is), and the adjectives that come to mind are wiry, strong. He looks in good trim, and one can easily visualise him as a tennis player or a runner. At time of interview, he had just lost his first game in the tournament, therefore this possibly didn't seem like the best time for an interview, the average chess player after losing a match feels an urge to go Columbine on the world, however, Dave seems relaxed however, as he sips on his beer.
MER: So Dave, how goes it? You went down in the last game against Nic van der Nat, initial thoughts? (MER note: Nic is a professional chess coach in Joburg, and one of SA's top players)
DS:- Yeah, I haven't been playing brilliantly this tournament, and that's the way it goes. Clearly its the shirt I am wearing. I just choked. {Dave, in a massive affront to all Aussie heritage is wearing a South African cricket shirt. Hence the analogy}
MER: Its interesting that you mention cricket. You've spoken before of your love of test cricket, you compare it often to chess. As a chess commentator, you often contract the two.
DS:- Its really similar. Test cricket you can watch for 6-8 hours a day, and often not much really seems to be happening. You just sort of drift into it, and often the commentary then allows you to talk about pretty much anything you want. Its great. Chess can be the same, a game can be 6 hours long, and whilst commentating you get to shoot the breeze on other items as well. {MER: - Only too true, who can forget the halcyon days of SA Cricket commentary, listening to Trevor Quirk explain how he used to enjoy a bit of ice cream at the lunch break, and generally the banter between the various people. Its an acquired love, but a very cool one}
MER:- Onto chess, what's your status. I mean, you are a 2520 Grandmaster, but claim you aren't a professional?
DS:- Yeah, I have played for around 20 years. I had the big decision to make when I was about 15. I was approached at a World Championship by one of the top trainers in Budapest. I had performed well up against my peers in World Chess to this point, and he offered to let me go to Budapest, and try to turn pro. It would have been hard graft, 8 hours of chess a day, I would have obviously dropped out of school, and gone to live in Europe. My parents weren't particularly keen on the idea, but they have supported me through the whole chess thing, and if I had really wanted to do it I could have. At 15 you aren't really thinking about life after 18, careers, schooling and whether you will study economics and work at the Australian treasury (Dave has a degree in Economics and worked recently for the Australian treasury in Canberra). It was probably one of the biggest decisions I have had to make, and I chose school and uni (university) over it. Now I play for enjoyment, and as a chance to see the world.
MER:- What do you enjoy about chess? How do you explain to a non-player why you enjoy it so much? What's it all about?
DS:- The common answer that you will get from a lot of top chess players, and amateurs is that chess is an art, science and sport rolled into one. That's what makes it so great. That's the right answer, but from a personal point of view, chess is the one constant in my life. I've been playing for 20 years (Dave is 27 years old), and was going to World Championships since the age of 10. Over the years, other than my family, chess is the one thing that has been there the whole time. Friends can come and go, but its great that I can walk into any city in the world, and there's immediately a chess community to go to. Its a common language that transcends culture and nationality, and I love it.
MER:- You say you aren't a pro, but you have some experience of the pro-GM lifestyle right?
DS:- I took time off after high school to try and get the GM title. I went through Europe, playing as a pro.
MER:- The enjoyment of playing pro?
DS:- It can be really tough. When you are pro, its all about playing the right moves, not necessarily the most exciting moves. I always want to play the most exciting moves. I want to play openings that I know are shit. {MER:- This distinguishes Dave from a lot of others. He regularly plays off-beat crazy stuff just to make it interesting. No dry boring, or heavily theoretical positions for him, though he demonstrates a remarkable knowledge of chess theory, and knowledge when we chat over a board. DS has the ability to distinguish good openings from shit, unlike this correspondent.}. When you are a pro, its all about the slightest of little edges, and players do anything to win. Round 2 of the current tournament I played a Belgian guy (MER:- A club mate of mine - Xavier Buck), and through the game he was saying things like "Wow that's a cool move" "What an idea" etc. etc. You would never see that one the pro scene, but it really made me remember why I enjoy chess. Being a pro, having to live on tuna fish and bread, and knowing that you have to win to pay the rent takes some of the fun out the game.
MER:- Its certainly sheds some light on it. I plan on interviewing some other pro-GMS later in the tournament, will be exciting to get their thoughts. On a more mundane note, if you have to give muppets like me (1600-1800) advise on how to improve their games, what would it be?
DS:- Endgames. (MER:- Dave was heard commentating during the recent blitz tournament that SA was the land where nobody knew how to play endgames) If you work on those, it improves every other area of your game. Its not as sexy as other aspects of training, but it reaps rewards. The other thing is to vary the routine, much like gym routine. Work on different aspects of your game, so it does not get too dull. The most important thing is to do whatever you have to do to keep enjoying chess. The day you stop enjoying it is the day you should stop.
MER:- Any chess related book projects for you?
DS:- Possibly a book on the Portuguese variation of the Scandinavian (1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Nf6 3.d4 Bg4)
I'm the strongest player in the world who plays it, not really because I am that strong but because no other grandmasters this strength would touch it. Its going to be the first honest opening book ever written, basically stating upfront that the variation is opening is rubbish, but you are guaranteed to have a lot of fun, and will conclude the game in 30 moves either way.
MER;- Any regrets?
DS:- Not really. The one thing that is really difficult is that my rating is too high. (MER:- shakes his head in bemusement, he wants to swop ratings for a couple of hours, to go settle some scores). It sometimes makes it difficult to enjoy the chess as much, as you can't really relax. In tournaments like this there are only a handful of players that are rated higher than me, that give me a chance to try and step up, and every weaker player is looking for a shot at me. The weaker players always step up. I still really love sitting in a bar, playing blitz and trash-talking the opposition. That's sometimes harder to do for a GM than it might be for an 1800. Chess is great when its relaxed like that.
MER:- So where is David Smerdon in a couple of years time?
DS:- After the tournament I am heading to Peru to do aid relief work, they need people to teach chess and maths to kids. (MER- lucky kids, imagine learning chess directly from a GM). Then I am off to Amsterdam where I plan on studying and finishing a Masters in Economics.
MER:- Any on the chess front, any plans.
DS:- I'll keep playing. For me chess is a hobby. I am just very good at my hobby.
{MER:- As an International Grandmaster with a 2520 rating, he probably has a point}
David Smerdon - vital statistics:-
Nationality - Australian
DOB:- 17 September 1984
Qualified as a GM in July 2009 to become Australia's 4th Grandmaster
Peak ELO Rating - 2530
Many thanks to Dave Smerdon who kindly agreed to chat with MER. Dave is articulate and sharp, and perhaps the best thing I can do is refer you to his own blog, where he demonstrates that not only can he play chess better than this author, but he can also write significantly better as well. Visit
http://www.davidsmerdon.com/
Upon first impression of seeing Dave, I thought he looked like an extra from an Avril Lavigne Skaterboy music video. Long T-shirts and jeans are de-rigeur for this man, though occasionally he can be spotted, like an exotic piece of wild life wearing some form of headwear. He immediately distorts the image of the nerdy chess player (although he claims that's exactly what he is), and the adjectives that come to mind are wiry, strong. He looks in good trim, and one can easily visualise him as a tennis player or a runner. At time of interview, he had just lost his first game in the tournament, therefore this possibly didn't seem like the best time for an interview, the average chess player after losing a match feels an urge to go Columbine on the world, however, Dave seems relaxed however, as he sips on his beer.
MER: So Dave, how goes it? You went down in the last game against Nic van der Nat, initial thoughts? (MER note: Nic is a professional chess coach in Joburg, and one of SA's top players)
DS:- Yeah, I haven't been playing brilliantly this tournament, and that's the way it goes. Clearly its the shirt I am wearing. I just choked. {Dave, in a massive affront to all Aussie heritage is wearing a South African cricket shirt. Hence the analogy}
MER: Its interesting that you mention cricket. You've spoken before of your love of test cricket, you compare it often to chess. As a chess commentator, you often contract the two.
DS:- Its really similar. Test cricket you can watch for 6-8 hours a day, and often not much really seems to be happening. You just sort of drift into it, and often the commentary then allows you to talk about pretty much anything you want. Its great. Chess can be the same, a game can be 6 hours long, and whilst commentating you get to shoot the breeze on other items as well. {MER: - Only too true, who can forget the halcyon days of SA Cricket commentary, listening to Trevor Quirk explain how he used to enjoy a bit of ice cream at the lunch break, and generally the banter between the various people. Its an acquired love, but a very cool one}
MER:- Onto chess, what's your status. I mean, you are a 2520 Grandmaster, but claim you aren't a professional?
DS:- Yeah, I have played for around 20 years. I had the big decision to make when I was about 15. I was approached at a World Championship by one of the top trainers in Budapest. I had performed well up against my peers in World Chess to this point, and he offered to let me go to Budapest, and try to turn pro. It would have been hard graft, 8 hours of chess a day, I would have obviously dropped out of school, and gone to live in Europe. My parents weren't particularly keen on the idea, but they have supported me through the whole chess thing, and if I had really wanted to do it I could have. At 15 you aren't really thinking about life after 18, careers, schooling and whether you will study economics and work at the Australian treasury (Dave has a degree in Economics and worked recently for the Australian treasury in Canberra). It was probably one of the biggest decisions I have had to make, and I chose school and uni (university) over it. Now I play for enjoyment, and as a chance to see the world.
MER:- What do you enjoy about chess? How do you explain to a non-player why you enjoy it so much? What's it all about?
DS:- The common answer that you will get from a lot of top chess players, and amateurs is that chess is an art, science and sport rolled into one. That's what makes it so great. That's the right answer, but from a personal point of view, chess is the one constant in my life. I've been playing for 20 years (Dave is 27 years old), and was going to World Championships since the age of 10. Over the years, other than my family, chess is the one thing that has been there the whole time. Friends can come and go, but its great that I can walk into any city in the world, and there's immediately a chess community to go to. Its a common language that transcends culture and nationality, and I love it.
MER:- You say you aren't a pro, but you have some experience of the pro-GM lifestyle right?
DS:- I took time off after high school to try and get the GM title. I went through Europe, playing as a pro.
MER:- The enjoyment of playing pro?
DS:- It can be really tough. When you are pro, its all about playing the right moves, not necessarily the most exciting moves. I always want to play the most exciting moves. I want to play openings that I know are shit. {MER:- This distinguishes Dave from a lot of others. He regularly plays off-beat crazy stuff just to make it interesting. No dry boring, or heavily theoretical positions for him, though he demonstrates a remarkable knowledge of chess theory, and knowledge when we chat over a board. DS has the ability to distinguish good openings from shit, unlike this correspondent.}. When you are a pro, its all about the slightest of little edges, and players do anything to win. Round 2 of the current tournament I played a Belgian guy (MER:- A club mate of mine - Xavier Buck), and through the game he was saying things like "Wow that's a cool move" "What an idea" etc. etc. You would never see that one the pro scene, but it really made me remember why I enjoy chess. Being a pro, having to live on tuna fish and bread, and knowing that you have to win to pay the rent takes some of the fun out the game.
MER:- Its certainly sheds some light on it. I plan on interviewing some other pro-GMS later in the tournament, will be exciting to get their thoughts. On a more mundane note, if you have to give muppets like me (1600-1800) advise on how to improve their games, what would it be?
DS:- Endgames. (MER:- Dave was heard commentating during the recent blitz tournament that SA was the land where nobody knew how to play endgames) If you work on those, it improves every other area of your game. Its not as sexy as other aspects of training, but it reaps rewards. The other thing is to vary the routine, much like gym routine. Work on different aspects of your game, so it does not get too dull. The most important thing is to do whatever you have to do to keep enjoying chess. The day you stop enjoying it is the day you should stop.
MER:- Any chess related book projects for you?
DS:- Possibly a book on the Portuguese variation of the Scandinavian (1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Nf6 3.d4 Bg4)
I'm the strongest player in the world who plays it, not really because I am that strong but because no other grandmasters this strength would touch it. Its going to be the first honest opening book ever written, basically stating upfront that the variation is opening is rubbish, but you are guaranteed to have a lot of fun, and will conclude the game in 30 moves either way.
MER;- Any regrets?
DS:- Not really. The one thing that is really difficult is that my rating is too high. (MER:- shakes his head in bemusement, he wants to swop ratings for a couple of hours, to go settle some scores). It sometimes makes it difficult to enjoy the chess as much, as you can't really relax. In tournaments like this there are only a handful of players that are rated higher than me, that give me a chance to try and step up, and every weaker player is looking for a shot at me. The weaker players always step up. I still really love sitting in a bar, playing blitz and trash-talking the opposition. That's sometimes harder to do for a GM than it might be for an 1800. Chess is great when its relaxed like that.
MER:- So where is David Smerdon in a couple of years time?
DS:- After the tournament I am heading to Peru to do aid relief work, they need people to teach chess and maths to kids. (MER- lucky kids, imagine learning chess directly from a GM). Then I am off to Amsterdam where I plan on studying and finishing a Masters in Economics.
MER:- Any on the chess front, any plans.
DS:- I'll keep playing. For me chess is a hobby. I am just very good at my hobby.
{MER:- As an International Grandmaster with a 2520 rating, he probably has a point}
David Smerdon - vital statistics:-
Nationality - Australian
DOB:- 17 September 1984
Qualified as a GM in July 2009 to become Australia's 4th Grandmaster
Peak ELO Rating - 2530
Many thanks to Dave Smerdon who kindly agreed to chat with MER. Dave is articulate and sharp, and perhaps the best thing I can do is refer you to his own blog, where he demonstrates that not only can he play chess better than this author, but he can also write significantly better as well. Visit
http://www.davidsmerdon.com/
Sunday 26 June 2011
Day 2 - MER fought reality, and reality won (again)
Day 2 - MER fought reality, and reality won (again)
So, yesterday ended day 2 of the Chess. I have chosen to write this the following day, as after a heavy chess loss which one blames on various things, to date the list includes the low glucose levels, the alignments of the planets, that idiot in Canada who convinced me that the world would end and LIED, the incorrect height of the white king, etc etc. Oh wait... I just realised that this is not Bobby Fischers blog.
Its MER's, so we probably have to put in the correct reasons, to whit no chess theory, the tactical ability at times of a rabbit with a stubbed toe, and the incorrect presumption that I can play chess. That settled, I can basically say that I won the first game in the morning against a 12 year-old, who managed to scare me badly, and then lost to unrated someone in the evening. 1/3. Meatloaf reckoned 2/3 wasn't bad, but I can't see 1/3 being superlative. Round 4 will require some serious motivation, luck, and in all fairness I need to get 2 wins under the belt today. Time to up the game. Please recommend song choices, perhaps Guns and Roses?
Just some comments on the playing venue, its at Emperors Palace near the Johannesburg Airport, and is a truly fantastic location. Over 650 competitors hustling to to see who can get to the casino next door first without dropping too many rating points. There is an excellent development area where King Pie have sponsored tons of kids to play doubles and blitz and learn about the game. Its a cracking venue.
Perhaps the highlight of the tournament for me yesterday took place on a crusty table just outside the playing venue. I had whipped out my trusty vinyl board (as important to the amateur patzer as a 6gun was to John Wayne) and was analysing an endgame with Andy, one of my club mates. He had basically thrown his position down the proverbial toilet, and lost an endgame. Whilst looking at some of the intricacies of the bishop + pawn + king with sore leg vs. King in wheelchair and 5 energetic pawns, a voice pipes up: "Is there not a draw here?" Imagine our surprise when its Nigel Short, tournament top seed, and former World number 3 sits down and starts analysing with us. Its amazing, I mean Fritz (the computer) could clearly tell you in 10 seconds something arcane like 10.0, but here we have Nigel, (whom all of us would happily commit fairly serious crimes if it meant getting a chance to play him in the tournament) sitting down and just explaining the position. 20 minutes of bliss. When is the last time you saw Tiger Woods, or Lee Westwood walk up to you on the putting green and give you some tips on how to hold the club, or technique etc? It just does not happen. Yet there we were, listening to the wisdom of one of the top players of the last 20 years. All free. All in good spirit. Its worth the tournament fee alone. Unfortunately even Nigel couldn't save the position, and Andy was left with the knowledge that he hadn't stuffed the endgame up.
Special mention must go to Tinashe Tafiro, a friend of mine from East Gauteng, who managed to snick a half point against a GM last night. Will try get highlights later.
Also Mr David Smerdon has gone missing in action since yesterday, which could be a result of his endeavours to sample all, well aspects, of the South African experience. Will try and get something on later today.
Signing off,
MER
So, yesterday ended day 2 of the Chess. I have chosen to write this the following day, as after a heavy chess loss which one blames on various things, to date the list includes the low glucose levels, the alignments of the planets, that idiot in Canada who convinced me that the world would end and LIED, the incorrect height of the white king, etc etc. Oh wait... I just realised that this is not Bobby Fischers blog.
Its MER's, so we probably have to put in the correct reasons, to whit no chess theory, the tactical ability at times of a rabbit with a stubbed toe, and the incorrect presumption that I can play chess. That settled, I can basically say that I won the first game in the morning against a 12 year-old, who managed to scare me badly, and then lost to unrated someone in the evening. 1/3. Meatloaf reckoned 2/3 wasn't bad, but I can't see 1/3 being superlative. Round 4 will require some serious motivation, luck, and in all fairness I need to get 2 wins under the belt today. Time to up the game. Please recommend song choices, perhaps Guns and Roses?
Just some comments on the playing venue, its at Emperors Palace near the Johannesburg Airport, and is a truly fantastic location. Over 650 competitors hustling to to see who can get to the casino next door first without dropping too many rating points. There is an excellent development area where King Pie have sponsored tons of kids to play doubles and blitz and learn about the game. Its a cracking venue.
Perhaps the highlight of the tournament for me yesterday took place on a crusty table just outside the playing venue. I had whipped out my trusty vinyl board (as important to the amateur patzer as a 6gun was to John Wayne) and was analysing an endgame with Andy, one of my club mates. He had basically thrown his position down the proverbial toilet, and lost an endgame. Whilst looking at some of the intricacies of the bishop + pawn + king with sore leg vs. King in wheelchair and 5 energetic pawns, a voice pipes up: "Is there not a draw here?" Imagine our surprise when its Nigel Short, tournament top seed, and former World number 3 sits down and starts analysing with us. Its amazing, I mean Fritz (the computer) could clearly tell you in 10 seconds something arcane like 10.0, but here we have Nigel, (whom all of us would happily commit fairly serious crimes if it meant getting a chance to play him in the tournament) sitting down and just explaining the position. 20 minutes of bliss. When is the last time you saw Tiger Woods, or Lee Westwood walk up to you on the putting green and give you some tips on how to hold the club, or technique etc? It just does not happen. Yet there we were, listening to the wisdom of one of the top players of the last 20 years. All free. All in good spirit. Its worth the tournament fee alone. Unfortunately even Nigel couldn't save the position, and Andy was left with the knowledge that he hadn't stuffed the endgame up.
Special mention must go to Tinashe Tafiro, a friend of mine from East Gauteng, who managed to snick a half point against a GM last night. Will try get highlights later.
Also Mr David Smerdon has gone missing in action since yesterday, which could be a result of his endeavours to sample all, well aspects, of the South African experience. Will try and get something on later today.
Signing off,
MER
2500 rated German International Masters - Their part in my downfall
A summary of Round 1
Greetings all,
The first entry in my blog, the anticipation, the tension, the drama, the inability to think of an appropriate opening line. Yesterday was the first day in the 2011 Commonwealth Chess Championship, and this blog will look at the tournament through the eyes of MER, the 1600 chess phenomenon from the rustic East Rand.
My chess club el capitan, GJ, whose club consists primarily of a bunch of people getting their chess kicks through bi-weekly consumption of various alcoholic beverages whilst playing blitz and doubles, decided that he had a heavy pennance to pay for large amounts of sins committed in a previous life, and decided to organise the Commonwealth Chess Championship (CCC), a task akin to trying to wipe out corruption in FIFA, get the Lions rugby team to win the Super 14 and other mundane tasks.
There is a plethora of foreign accents flying around the venue, I feel like I am in some international refugee camp caught between the aid workers and the UN people handing out food. Germans, Brits, Argentines, Angolans, Belgians and several others are all of the people who will be lining up to cut me up into tiny pieces of chopped liver and distribute over the general landscape.
Yesterday was the first round. Given my lowly 1600 rating (This is like a 18 handicap golfer in this event), I had the joy in the first round to draw a 19 year-old, Niclas Hushchenbeth, an international master rated 2502 (Clearly the Martin Kaymer of World Chess - young, dangerous etc), who won (!) the German open recently. Given that Germany has produced in excess of 70 Grandmasters, the boy can clearly play. But MER is resourceful, canny, and optimistic. In so doing, he undertook the following key pre-match work:-
1.) Listed to Bruce Springsteens "None but the brave" 20 minutes before sending his e-pawn forward with the express order - No retreat - (A confident suggestion since pawns can't move backward)
2.) Tried to dress well, given that professional photographers and Indian television were all around.
3.) Tried the famous East Gauteng psychological trick pioneered by Jaco "No nickname" Nienaber of arriving later at the board to induce panic in the opponent, which surprisingly did not work.
4.)In the words of Nigel Short when faced by Gary Kasparov - engaged in non-constructive bouts of blind terror.
Playing on board 8 of this tournament is the closest MER may ever come to celebrity stardom, short of starting a reality show on "how quickly can you turn a neat house into a scene reminiscent of Rome after it was sacked by the Goths", and its super-cool. Playing with weighted wooden pieces, the svelt DGT boards which beam your game live throughout the world. Sitting in the GM enclosure which is kinda like the playboy mansion in that all the stuff is happening there, but you usually only get to go in on express invitation, and are always curious as to what is happening. When you conclude the game, you don't even have to hand in your notation sheet, its formally collected by the tournament arbiter. Just too cool. Just too amazing, every couple of minutes I had Nigel Short (former World Number 3) glancing at my game (no doubt in absolute shock and awe at the clearly poor moves), but still great.
I would love to start the blog with a sensational upset against Niclas, but that would be unrealistic. Sometimes the only Disney aspects of tournament chess are the hairstyles and the music choice of the participants. I battled on manfully, trying to draw on the experience gained in losing to top players for all of my 30 years, and eventually after 30 moves my position resembled that of an Afgan hill top, desolate, barren and overrun with enemy troops. Its just so soul destroying playing these guys at times. You are never in control, and never get a chance to exert any pressure. I felt like a computer game character jabbing at the enemy with a blunt knife just before he emerged from the shadows with sheet armour, 2 bazookas, a rocket launcher and a chain-saw. Not that easy.
Thats it for post number 1. In the next, I will endeavour to answer critical questions about the tournament, such as where it is, how to blitz a 2100 Australian, and a profile of one of the leading seeds for the tournament, Aussie GM David Smerdon.
MER signing off.
Greetings all,
The first entry in my blog, the anticipation, the tension, the drama, the inability to think of an appropriate opening line. Yesterday was the first day in the 2011 Commonwealth Chess Championship, and this blog will look at the tournament through the eyes of MER, the 1600 chess phenomenon from the rustic East Rand.
My chess club el capitan, GJ, whose club consists primarily of a bunch of people getting their chess kicks through bi-weekly consumption of various alcoholic beverages whilst playing blitz and doubles, decided that he had a heavy pennance to pay for large amounts of sins committed in a previous life, and decided to organise the Commonwealth Chess Championship (CCC), a task akin to trying to wipe out corruption in FIFA, get the Lions rugby team to win the Super 14 and other mundane tasks.
There is a plethora of foreign accents flying around the venue, I feel like I am in some international refugee camp caught between the aid workers and the UN people handing out food. Germans, Brits, Argentines, Angolans, Belgians and several others are all of the people who will be lining up to cut me up into tiny pieces of chopped liver and distribute over the general landscape.
Yesterday was the first round. Given my lowly 1600 rating (This is like a 18 handicap golfer in this event), I had the joy in the first round to draw a 19 year-old, Niclas Hushchenbeth, an international master rated 2502 (Clearly the Martin Kaymer of World Chess - young, dangerous etc), who won (!) the German open recently. Given that Germany has produced in excess of 70 Grandmasters, the boy can clearly play. But MER is resourceful, canny, and optimistic. In so doing, he undertook the following key pre-match work:-
1.) Listed to Bruce Springsteens "None but the brave" 20 minutes before sending his e-pawn forward with the express order - No retreat - (A confident suggestion since pawns can't move backward)
2.) Tried to dress well, given that professional photographers and Indian television were all around.
3.) Tried the famous East Gauteng psychological trick pioneered by Jaco "No nickname" Nienaber of arriving later at the board to induce panic in the opponent, which surprisingly did not work.
4.)In the words of Nigel Short when faced by Gary Kasparov - engaged in non-constructive bouts of blind terror.
Playing on board 8 of this tournament is the closest MER may ever come to celebrity stardom, short of starting a reality show on "how quickly can you turn a neat house into a scene reminiscent of Rome after it was sacked by the Goths", and its super-cool. Playing with weighted wooden pieces, the svelt DGT boards which beam your game live throughout the world. Sitting in the GM enclosure which is kinda like the playboy mansion in that all the stuff is happening there, but you usually only get to go in on express invitation, and are always curious as to what is happening. When you conclude the game, you don't even have to hand in your notation sheet, its formally collected by the tournament arbiter. Just too cool. Just too amazing, every couple of minutes I had Nigel Short (former World Number 3) glancing at my game (no doubt in absolute shock and awe at the clearly poor moves), but still great.
I would love to start the blog with a sensational upset against Niclas, but that would be unrealistic. Sometimes the only Disney aspects of tournament chess are the hairstyles and the music choice of the participants. I battled on manfully, trying to draw on the experience gained in losing to top players for all of my 30 years, and eventually after 30 moves my position resembled that of an Afgan hill top, desolate, barren and overrun with enemy troops. Its just so soul destroying playing these guys at times. You are never in control, and never get a chance to exert any pressure. I felt like a computer game character jabbing at the enemy with a blunt knife just before he emerged from the shadows with sheet armour, 2 bazookas, a rocket launcher and a chain-saw. Not that easy.
Thats it for post number 1. In the next, I will endeavour to answer critical questions about the tournament, such as where it is, how to blitz a 2100 Australian, and a profile of one of the leading seeds for the tournament, Aussie GM David Smerdon.
MER signing off.
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