My Super Terrific Fun Time Chess Blog

An Analysis, Lest You Doubt the Depth of My Addiction

2010-02-11T15:18:00.007-05:00

There are a few things that one remembers throughout his or her entire life. The birth of a child. The death of a president. Meeting that red-headed kid from Problem Child at Rolland.

For me, it was the first time I beat a player rated over 2000.

A few qualifiers: A 2000+ rating on redhotpawn doesn't really mean CRAP in the real world. There are a few players on the site that I'm sure a legitimately excellent players (there's a CC IM, and some kid who supposedly beat Garry Kasparov in a simul), but for the most part, the ratings are rather generous. Secondly, the guy that I beat was comparatively new to the site, so his rating may not have "settled" yet. He did mention in his profile that he was rated around 1900 OTB.

Play online chess

1.e4 c5 2.d4!?
{The Smith-Morra gambit. An interesting move, but what he's told me is
that he's afraid of playing the Sicilian. I'm inside his head. I
should start talking smack, a la Any Given Sunday.}
2...cxd4 3.c3 Nf6
( 3...dxc3 4.Nxc3 {Also commonly played here is 3. dxc3 4. Nxc3, which
is the main line of the Smith-Morra Accepted. But that seems to play
right into what he wanted, and, as it is against any opponent, you
can't win if your pieces aren't developed, and just look at the board
(diagram) after the variation! Not bad compensation for a pawn
investment} )
4.e5 Nd5 5.Bc4 Qc7 6.Qe2
( {A viable option would have been to take on d5, and after} 6.Bxd5
Qxe5+ 7.Ne2 Qxd5 8.O-O e5 9.cxd4 d6 {things are pretty even } )
6...Nb6?
{Too passive. I should have moved my e pawn to e6 which would have
proved meritorious in triplicate: blockade white's e-pawn, protect my
knight, and influence the center. Nb6 just concedes centrality. It
does attack the bishop, but to no avail, as that threat is avoided by
Bd3 or Bc5}
7.Bd3 d5 8.exd6
{A brief aside about e.p. captures. I believe that given the choice
whether or not to push a pawn one or two square and in doing so will
force the opponent make an immediate decision regarding an e.p.
capture, it is always beneficial to push it two squares (this
obviously comes with the qualification that there will be numerous
specific examples of the opposite being true, but in principle, I
believe it is good practice). In regard to game theory, it is
beneficial in general to limit your opponents choices, and that is
exactly what you do when you provide an e.p. opportunity. Your
opponent has one chance to capture the pawn, and any variations he
calculates in which he does not capture it must be made knowing that
the e.p. capture is no longer an option. In this particular
situation, capturing was definitely the best option, but it's always
something to keep in mind.}
8...Qxd6 9.Nf3 Bg4
{I had been wating for this move, hoping to damage his KS pawn
structure (after 10. h3 Bh5 11. g4 Bg6)}
10.h3 Bxf3
{Looking back, I think this move was somewhat too aggressive. A
player of his strength would definitely be able to utilise the
advantage of the two bishops...}
11.Qxf3 Qd7 12.O-O Nc6 13.Bf4 e5 14.Re1 f6 15.Bg3 Bc5?
{I can't tell you why I made this move... I think it's been said
before, but sometimes I move just because it's my turn.}
16.a4?
{My opponent follows suit with a misplay of his own. I don't
understand the reasoning behind this move. If he's initiating a QS
pawn storm, I think it's a little too early to do so, plus I haven't
committed my King to the QS yet (although most signs indicate that I
will eventually). I think a better move would have been b4: }
( 16.b4 Bf8 {Just conceding that my previous move was pointless.} 17.
b5 Na5 18.Re4 dxc3 19.Nxc3 Qf7 20.Bxe5 fxe5 21.Rxe5+ {and white is
extremely dangerous in this position} )
16...a5 17.Qh5+ Qf7 18.Bg6??
{This was it, the move that cost him the game; he simply gives away
the bishop for free. }
18...Qxg6 19.Qf3
( {His other option was to trade queens} 19.Qxg6+ hxg6 20.Nd2 dxc3 21.
bxc3 O-O-O {and black is coordinating and mounting an attack (see
diagram 4)} )
19...O-O?!
{rendering his a4 push useless, but also leaving myself open to a
surprise attack; he still has a queen after all.}
20.Nd2 Qc2?!
{I played an OTB game against this guy once who would talk about his
moves. It was a friendly game and we'd discuss to some degree what we
were thinking. He made a move similar to this, positioning a queen
deep in my territory where she wasn't directly threatening anything
that couldn't be easily defended. I asked him what his reasoning was
behind it and he thought for a moment and said "Just to cause some
general discomfort." That reasoning has always stuck with me, and
I've used it to justify some of my more aggressive queen placements in
the past, including this move. I'm not seeing very far at this point
and perhaps a passive move would be in order here, but to be honest, I
felt like Rocky Balboa after he had just cut Ivan Drago for the first
time in Rocky IV.}
21.Nc4 dxc3 22.bxc3 Rad8
{I finally exchange the pawns and give him two isolated pawns and an
ability to gain control of the d-file.}
23.Nxb6 Bxb6 24.Rab1 Rd3?!
{Too aggressive. If I'm not careful, white is going to slip in behind
my defenses. Much better would have been Ba7}
( 24...Ba7 25.Rxb7 Qxa4 26.Rc1 Qc4 {and white rook are neutralized for
the most part. The rook on c1 is tied to the defense of the c3 pawn
(if it leaves, the queen will be tied to it), and the rook on b7
doesn't have any good squares to occupy} )
25.Qe4 Ba7 26.Rxb7 Qxc3 27.Rc7!
{Ruh roh... if only there were some way...}
27...f5!!
{BAM! Permit a little self indulgence, but this move should be used
as an example in a book about deflection.}
28.Qxc6??
{Another blunder, but this is the fatal one. Much better would have
been:}
( 28.Qe2 Rxg3 29.Rxa7 Rg6 30.Rc7 Qxh3 {and he's dug his heels in. I
still think that black stands better here, but that fact goes back to
the blundered bishop} )
28...Qxe1+ 29.Kh2 Rd1 30.Qe6+ Kh8 31.Bxe5
{I poured and poured over this position, CONVINCED that there had to
be a forced mate. I knew I had to give check again (or capture his
bishop) to defend against Bxg7#. I say, without a hint of regret or
shame, that I spent close to an hour analyzing this position. I
slowly started to think that there was no forced mate, and that I was
going to let his king slip through, but I got up, stretched my legs,
made a cup of tea, came back, and found mate in 4. }
31...Qg1+ 32.Kg3 Qxf2+ 33.Kh2 Rh1+ 0-1 and white resigns.

The King's Gambit: An Exercise In Futility

2009-07-17T18:41:00.006-04:00

So I've done it. 20 games playing the King's Gambit in light of that little online quiz I took, and I must say: CRAP! Okay, perhaps I'm being too harsh. I have, after all, been a d4 player since I first learned about the Queen's Gambit and all the stunning and beautiful complexities it offers, so maybe the transition to the King's should take longer than a mere 20 games. I just could not get comfortable in it. The early advance of the f-pawn, coupled with the expository advance of the e-pawn just leave the king too open in for me. I found myself constantly worrying about whether or not the e1-h4 diagonal was exposed and if my opponent could fool's mate me (which did happen a few times... Not "fool's mate" in the strictest sense, but more like I felt like a fucking moron for not seeing it).

In terms of the "gambit" itself, it was never accepted, and I found myself at a loss as to how to proceed after the 2. ...d6 that inevitably followed. How can I truly call it a gambit if it were never actually accepted?

Overall consensus: I'll stick with my current repertoire: 1. d4 as white, and 1. ...c5 or 1. ...d5 to 1. e4 and 1. ...d5 or 1. ...f5 to 1. d4 as black.

Online Quizzes Are Bullcrap

2009-07-09T11:57:00.003-04:00

What a great word: Bullcrap. Let's bring that back into the lexicon, shall we?

Anyway, I took a stupid online quiz about which opening I should play and my result was a staggering: King's Gambit.

Hence, the title of this post. I've never played the king's gambit, not once. I'm a through and through 1. d4 player. But it did get me thinking. Maybe I'm missing something. Do I play 1. d4 because I feel it's superior to 1. e4, or because I am comfortable in that opening? Maybe I fear the Sicilian and that's why I don't play it. Hmmm...

So, in light of today's quiz, I've decided to do a little experiment. 20 games with the king's gambit. This should determine the merits of this opening, and also of online quizzes, both of which I believe to be: bullcrap

What, In God's Name, Is This?

2009-07-08T23:36:00.004-04:00

I found this beauty while being too lazy to type the url of my blog into the address bar. I sign into Google, go to the blogs tab, and search for "chess terrific," and multiple links come up, all with the same heading as my blog. I clicked on one and saw that it was clearly my page, translated into another language, then translated back. Here's an excerpt from my last post:

"You are a child. You are of average or above average intelligence. One day, while visiting your grandfather, you ask him what the old, antiquated checkerboard with all the funny looking pieces is. He laughs, and tells you that it's not checkers, but chess."

And here is the same passage, after it has been through the translator:

"You are a neonate. remarkably One hour, while visiting your grandfather, you interrogate him what the former, prehistoric checkerboard with all the irrational looking pieces is. You are of emblem in the main or select to already emblem in the main shrewdness."

This phenomenon baffles me. I take great pains to make sure this thing is readable and relatively grammatically correct, and suddenly I see a twisted, bastardized version of my work readily available to anyone searching for "chess terrific." This is unacceptable!

Anyway, enough bitching. Big news. Big news! I've been hired by a website to write a column about chess. Yes, you read that correctly. Soon, I will be getting paid to write about chess. I haven't gotten everything set up with them yet; I just got the news a few minutes ago.

I played Dilligents again on FICS, and again, he battled me to the end. Here's the game:

(show chess board)(hide chess board)

Again, a gentleman, he offered me a game directly after (we had played a game immediately before this one, during which I became disconnected and lost. The game was, I think, undecided at that point, but hey, rules is rules), which, again, I had to decline. Seriously, I had ordered a pizza which arrived right at the end of our first game, which sat there while we played the one above, so I didn't want to play again; I had to eat!

Chess Prodigies

2009-07-03T10:19:00.004-04:00

You are a child. You are of average or above average intelligence. One day, while visiting your grandfather, you ask him what the old, antiquated checkerboard with all the funny looking pieces is. He laughs, and tells you that it's not checkers, but chess.

"Wow," you say. "What's the difference?"

"Well, it's similar to checkers, but all these different pieces move in different ways."

Enthralled, you sit patiently while he explains the rules.

"How does the horsie move again?"

"Two squares ahead, and one to the side. And it's not called a horsie. It's called a knight."

You play a few games, losing to your grandfathers passing knowledge of strategy and tactics. Then, slowly, you begin to see the pieces differently. Before your move, you can visualize how your grandfather will respond. You take steps to counteract what you think his next move will be. Suddenly, your bishops don't hang anymore, and you realize the importance of stationing knights on key, central outposts. You many not know what a pin is, but you understand that it makes things more difficult for your grandfather if you force his knight to stay in one spot because moving it would put his king in check. It makes sense to double your rooks on open or half open files.

Your grandfather recognizes your potential, and signs you up for some junior tournaments. You plow through them, winning the trophies easily. Your FIDE rating climbs steadily, earning the ranks of Expert, FM, and IM. The chess world takes notice of you, saying how you are the next super-grandmaster. Lesser mortals fall before your towering calculation skill.

You have become, this kid: The Most Feared Competitor Ever

Magnus Carlsen: Hero, Patriot, Legend

2009-07-02T21:56:00.005-04:00

This, friends, is Magnus Carlsen. He is younger, smarter, and better looking than you.

Magnus is currently ranked number three in the world, with a rating of 2772. To give some level of comparison to this young man's genius, once a player reaches a rating of around 2600, he or she is generally considered to be able to move the pieces with his or her mind. Also, only four players have ever exceeded a rating of 2800 (Kasparov, Topalov, Kramnik, and Anand), So Mr. Magnus is poised to overthrow (he's only 19).

Magnus has a knack for kicking ass and taking names. He single handedly wiped out a tournament full of top competitors at Wijk aan Zee 2009, then told the Grand Prix tournament to go fuck itself. Why? Because the kid just don't play that way (Okay, in all honesty, I've done no research whatsoever for this post. I remember reading on Magnus' blog that he was not participating in some tournament for some reason, and I don't even know if he competed at Wijk ann Zee, let alone dominated).

This is the game where he beat the bag out of Vladimir Kramnik, one of the eastern European heavies that Russia seems to produce en masse every few years. Watch, and be amazed:

(show chess board)(hide chess board)

Lest you think that he can only play chess, here is a video of him during an interview. Watch as the interviewer tries to make Magnus look foolish, only to be fed a steaming pile of his own ass.

I Find a Disturbing Chess Set and Wonder How Far We as a Society Have Come

2009-07-02T13:45:00.005-04:00

Behold:

That's right, it's exactly what it looks like. In case you are having trouble finding the words, allow me to give you some to from which to choose: They are chess figurines which are simulated fetuses preserved in formaldehyde which have deformities and oddities that indicate which piece they represent.

I came across this little gem while I was looking on eBay to see if anyone had a large quantity of cheap chess sets for sale.

Forget for a moment that someone actually took the time to carve these pieces, make or find glass tubes in which to fit them, fill them with a formaldehyde type liquid, and put them up for sale, he had to think up the concept first. His thought process had to be something along the lines "I'm bored with the standard Staunton pieces. If only there were a way I could combine my unnatural and creepy obsession with deformed, prenatal fetuses with my love for chess. Wait! Helga! Fetch me my notebook!"

Seriously. What does it say about us as a society that this is considered art? Even if you don't plan on playing with them, why would you want them in your house? I'd be afraid that they'd come alive in the middle of the night, secure various items of cutlery from my kitchen, and take me hostage. Especially the king. He looks particularly disagreeable.

Actually, that sounds pretty cool. I think I will bid on them...

Chess Fight!

2009-07-01T12:41:00.003-04:00

Allow me, if I may, to set the scene. It's Friday night. I've made some new friends who are interested in playing chess and darts, and they tell me to come back to the bar when there's no karaoke so we can play. So the next night, I load up my board and walk down. It's empty except for my new friends and a few overweight bar patrons. I get a beer and play a few games of darts before breaking out the chessboard. My new friend Benki (indian, mustachioed, slight of build), and overweight bar patron, Gary (pale, hefty, and who's face, whether from excessive consumption of alcohol or some unfortunate genetic condition, was stained a light red) start a game, with me watching in between turns at darts. The game started off innocuously enough (Queen's Gambit Declined-Slav Defense), and after some truly mediocre play, black (Benki) had a strong attack on the queenside. Now at one point, Gary had a chance to capture a pawn en passant, but declined, and since it was unclear at that point whether or not the e.p. capture resulted in an immediate advantage, I pushed it out of my mind and continued watching and playing darts. Benki ended up winning, at which point Gary came over to me and asked me if I wanted a game. I accepted (I was, afterall, there to play chess), and we sat down to play.
I drew white, and began my game as I begin 90% of my games: 1. d4. I had just seen Gary play a queen's pawn game, so I knew that he was comfortable in the opening, but I play a strange line in Q.P. games: The Trompowsky Attack (1.d4 Nf6 2. Bg5?!). I've played the line enough so if played any of the common lines (2. ...e6, 2. ... Nd4, and 2. ...d6) I could respond to make my game playable.

Gary followed suit with 1. ...Nf6 (King's Indian) and I played 2. Bg5. Gary snorted, as if to imply that I was foolish and that this wasn't how the King's Indian was played. I completely understood that, and in fact, I use the Trompowsky against stronger opponents specifically because I play poorly against the King's Indian. Instead of any of the common lines, he played 2. ...a6, attacking my bishop. Well, there's a reason why this response never caught on and it's because of 3. Bxf6 exf6. Now black's kingside pawn structure is crippled, and white has gained a tempo.

I developed normally now, always keeping an eye on the pawn on f6. The game played on normally, with me maintaining my slight advantage, about which Gary seemed obvlivious. He would talk about my moves loudly, telling me exactly what I was doing wrong. He seemed proud of himself that he saw that I offered to exhange queens.

"Are you sure you want to do that? I mean, we can dance if you want," he said when I offered the exchange.

Things were nearing the end, when suddenly, the fireworks.

I pushed a pawn onto the 6th rank, and he moved an adjacent pawn to the sixth rank as well, leaving me the option of capturing en passant. In this case, it would be immediately advantageous for me to do so, so I quickly made the capture, as it happened, while Gary hadn't been looking at the board. He resumed his attention on the pieces and was taken aback. He quickly reached for the peice I had taken off the board and put it back on the square it had been removed from.

"I moved it here," he said, pointing to b5, "not here," pointing to b6, where my pawn stood. He flicked my pawn out of the way. "Nice try," he added.

"No, I know where you moved it, I captured en passant," making sure to put some extra French accent onto it. I have respect for all my opponents, but if they accuse me of cheating, it gets under my skin.

He was confused. "What are you talking about? You can't take it, it was next to your pawn. Pawns don't capture like that, son."

Again with the condescending tone, and an implicit accusation that I DON'T KNOW ONE OF THE MOST BASIC RULES OF THE GAME. One of the first things you learn is how pawns capture.

"No, I understand," I continued, calmly, "I captured en passant." Even more French accent this time.

At this point, I knew that he didn't have any idea what an en passant capture was, but as he had been bragging the entire game about how long he had been playing chess, I figured I'd make him back it up. If he had been playing for 20 years, there's no way he wouldn't have known about en passant.

"No, no, no," he continuted, condescingingly, "you don't understand..." at which point I had to interrupt.

"Wait, you do know what an en passant capture is, right?" with a hint of the same condescent that he had been giving me.

It was clearly the wrong thing to say.

Gary looked at me, then at the board, then he swung.

I threw myself back in my chair hard enough to make it fall backwards, with Gary's fist just missing my face. I slammed onto the ground and Gary, despite his heft, had cleared the table in a split second and was ready to pounce. Kenny, the behemoth of a bar manager, caught him practically in mid-air and threw him against the wall. Benki and another man were immediately at my side, helping me up, thinking that Gary had connected and that was why I had fallen back. They repeatedly asked me if I were okay, incredulous that my nose wasn't broken or bleeding. It took a few minutes for me to explain to them that I had pushed the chair over myself. Kenny, meanwhile, took Gary outside, amidst his curses and threats of physical harm. Benki told me that I should probably leave. I happily wrote "1-0" in my notebook, packed up my things, and left.

I had heard a joke about not capturing en passant unless you wanted to start a fight. Well, I thought it had been a joke...

I play against a computer and have my ass handed to me

2009-06-30T11:44:00.003-04:00

So I'm sitting here, wondering what to write about, when suddenly, it occurs to me where the goddamn orange crumbs came from the other day. Dog bicuits. That's right, I have dog biscuits here at work. My boss brings his dog in every day, and we have sort of a routine: the dog comes directly over to my desk and I give her a treat, then she runs off. I make her do the standard dog tricks, the order of which she's gotten down pat, so she'll typically give me her paw before I even ask for it. Her rolling over needs work, as she kind of just lays on her side and groans. She has a drooling problem too. Anyway, the source of the mysterious orange crumbs has been discovered.

New hotness in the world of FICS. I played a computer called tentacle thrice and lost thrice (hmmm... Even used correctly, that word seems awkward...). The first I was hoping to win, but I blundered away my queen, and the computer was unrelenting. Against a human opponent, I can maybe mask a blunder as part of an overarching plan, pretending that I meant to do it. Hopefully my opponent will be nervous as to what my plan might be and play overly cautious, allowing me to even the playing field by mounting a counterattack. For example, see, in the game below, I gave my queen away. I didn't have a plan, or see some sort of elaborate counterattack, I simply hung my queen. My opponent, who was rated about 200 points below me, was able to seize the advantage and go on to win the game.

(show chess board)(hide chess board)

My games against tentacle were even more of a massacre. After blundering away my queen, the computer saw blood and went directly for it. The games are saved on my computer at home so I don't have them to show, but rest assured, that they weren't pretty.

The second game was a little better, but I started getting into time trouble. The computer was also getting into trouble, but the time controls were set to add 15 seconds for each move. I had never played a computer on FICS before, but I'm assuming that this is some sort of fail-safe, so that the computer never runs out of time. I ended up resigning.

The third game I went into determined to at least draw. I lost badly.

I guess the moral of the story is, playing the computer is frustrating.

As an aside, I'm trying to get work freelance writing. There's a website called Elance, that has all sorts of projects for people to write: articles, blogs, websites, proofreading, editing, you name it. I'm listing my services as proofreading, spellchecking, and editing. I mean, I know grammer good and stuff.

Our Hero Pulls It Out with 26 Seconds Left

2009-06-22T13:50:00.005-04:00

Just as I was about to start typing, I found crumbs on my desk, from sources unknown. It's kind of the same feeling you get when you notice blood on your shirt, and wonder where it came from. It is my blood, or someone elses? Is my nose bleeding? How did I cut myself? All applicable here.

The crumbs were kind of orange, too. I don't know many foods that leave orange crumbs...

Anyway, FICS is great. The new interface it a life saver. I had an awesome game saturday night in which I was able to mate my opponent with only 0:26 left. My heart was literally racing. Also, this game was making me and my friends late for a party, which was adding stress (what's the saying? An addiction is desructive if it interferes with other aspects of your life? Perhaps that's only with alcohol and gambling).

Here is the game:

(show chess board)(hide chess board)

Now, this kid was a gladiator. He offered me a rematch right after the game, which unfortunately, I had to decline. We traded off queen's early, then castled to opposite sides, which I always enjoy. I maimed his pawn structure early on and was therefor able to play somewhat loosely around my own king as many of his efforts would be tied up in protecting his. He solidified his own position at move 28, and I'd started to get nervous that my loose play would turn around and bite me. From move 28 to 66, he played abolutely brilliantly, but luckily I found a hole and was able to promote. After the promotion, it was a matter of finding a solution without going over time, which, again luckily, I was able to do. My hat's off to this gentleman for an excellent game.

As an aside, the party that I made us late for was a good time. I met someone with exactly the same name as myself, and we played one on one beer pong into double overtime twice in a row, both notching a win. I had clearly met my equal. One of the guys who lived there had some emulator type thing and had downloaded nearly every old school NES game, including Jeopardy. One of the questions that was asked was chess related and I got the right answer, so that made me happy. The night ended with my roommate walking into my other roommates room at 4 AM, completely naked, and trying to go into her closet. I'm just glad it wasn't me...

I try FICS and am frightened by technology

2009-06-20T18:12:00.002-04:00

So, consumed with boredom, and really looking to take my interest in chess to a level I can consider more than "hobby," I joined FICS today, to play some real-time chess (I first joined Gameknot, but found out that it, like my bread and butter chess site, chessatwork.com aka redhotpawn.com, is a correspondence style site, and quite honestly, I have enough games to keep my busy at work with chessatwork, so I'll probably just finish the three games I started and never go back).

My first thought of FICS was: frightening. I'm a through and through Windows user (sorry, I've never been that interested in computers...), and FICS being an un-windows type of interface, took some getting used to. I played three games rather quickly (+2 =0 -1) before even attempting to learn the interface. At one point, my opponent made a truly awful move, and asked for a takeback, which I wanted to allow, but couldn't figure out how, and also, I couldn't figure out how to let him know that I wanted to allow it but couldn't figure it out. So I clicked what I figured to be my best option, which thankfully turned out to be correct. Then I spent about an hour wading through the various help menus, trying to figure out how to save games or have .pgn files mailed to me (the syntax for jsave was just completely over my head...) before giving up in a huff and doing some grocery shopping (thank you to the random guy who told me about the deal on Diet Pepsi).

I logged on later in the day with the intent of learning the interface come hell or high water. I found that there are multiple interfaces that are available by download, made by users, that make your FICS experience easier (which in my case, simply meant more windows like). I found one called BabasChess, which, as far as I can tell is pretty good (it even has a "It's the Boss!" option, that, with the push of a button, automatically minimizes the game and messages your opponent to let them know that your boss is around. Good stuff...). I played one more game (below, with some comments).

If you join FICS, which I recommend, my username is Kaaosaste. Challenge me and we'll have a game. :)

(show chess board)(hide chess board)

Come enjoy!

2009-06-17T16:15:00.004-04:00

Come and enjoy my blog!

Okay, all pretentions aside, I will use this mainly so I'm not clogging up the forum for my online chess clan, the Mighty M.U.T.I. I think that people utilize forums moreso for information geared toward the lower spectrum of the attention span (not that the readers can't comprehend, but you need to be in a certain, sober, state of mind to truly digest something like an opening analysis, and I know when I check the forums, it's mainly to get quick ideas or see some interesting games). That being said, the first two posts here are merely reposts of my opening analyses posted there (the Albin Counter Gambit, and the Trompowsky Attack). Of all the openings, I'm mainly interested in "fringe" openings, specifically queen's pawn.

I must quickly point out my friend Melissa's blog (see link at the side). If you want an extremely funny, well written column about things that have absolutely no bearing on real world events (i.e., reality TV), then you've found it.

Also, thanks to the guy who made this site, who made it possible for me to pose interactive boards on my blog.

See you all later, and good luck in all your games.