Untold Things

Counting Sheep

Levon Grigori Aronian – 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén)

Freestyle Chess G.O.A.T. Challenge Prelims Tournament; time control: 25 minutes plus 10 seconds per move; Wangels, February 10, 2024

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Position #336

1. c4 Ng6 2. f4 c5 3. e3 b6 4. b3 f6 5. Qf2 Qf7 6. g4 d5 7. cxd5 Qxd5 8. h4

8. ... 0-0!? Castling into it. To be sure, a reckless decision considering 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén)’s state of shape.
9. h5 Nh8 10. Ne2 Nf7 11. Nhg3 Ncd6 12. Nf5 Rd7?? Oblivious to the danger, Black parries only one of the two major threats. He had, of course, to take the Knight: 12. ... Nxf5 on which White would probably have continued 13. e4 Qb7 14. gxf5 Kh8 15. 0-0-0⩲ with an edge.

13. Nxg7! Kxg7? 13. ... Ne4 14. Qg2 Kxg7 15. g5 is a little better, but not much: White’s attack hits and hurts.
14. g5 e5 15. gxf6++ Kh8 16. Qg3 Nd8 17. Bxe5. It should be noted, at least in passing, that 16. Qxg7+! at once was also possible.
17. ... Rdf7

18. Qg7+! 1 : 0. 18. ... Rxg7 19. fxg7+ Kg8 20. Bxh7+ Kf7 (or 20. ... Kxh7 21. gxf8=Q with mate in two) 21. g8=Q+! is a disaster for Black.

In the Prelims of Freestyle Chess G.O.A.T. Challenge, an interlocutory rapid round-robin format, 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) showed himself as him who descended into the hell, thus unveiling the darkest side of his Mr. Hyde to the onlookers. Who knows, however, that when the going will get tough, the tough will get going, suddenly and mysteriously, taking his adversaries by surprise. Photo: Amruta Mokal and Sagar Shah/ChessBase India.

衣夫人，新年快乐！愿你心中的龙永远坚强！

Photo © Giorgos Markou

Simplicity Behind Complexity

Magnus Carlsen – Levon Grigori Aronian

Freestyle Chess G.O.A.T. Challenge Prelims Tournament; time control: 25 minutes plus 10 seconds per move; Wangels, February 9, 2024

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Position #791

1. c3 g6 2. d4 b5?! Aronian’s unstrategic aptitude will soon cause him trouble. Black had to play something like 2. ... d6 followed at the proper time by ... c7-c5.
3. Nd3! Nd6 4. Nc5 f5?! Apparently to prevent e2-e4, but Black has hardly time for this.

5. g3 c6 6. Nf3 Nf7 7. Ng5! Nxg5 8. Bxg5 Bg7 9. Bf4 d6?! This seems to be a miscalculation, but there was no easy life for Black anyway.
10. Bxc6 g5 11. Bxg5 dxc5

12. Qd3!? It’s arduous to question and even more arduous to citicise any of Carlsen’s moves, especially when, like now, he snubs the science of the engines (12. Bf4) to make humans alive again.
12. ... Kc7 13. d5!? Be5! 14. a4!? Bb7! 15. 0-0

15. ... bxa4?? A suicidal mistake, which allows White to break throuh on the a-side with catastrophic consequences for the Black King. 15. ... h6! 16. Bd2 c4! might have proven a hard nut for Carlsen to crack.
16. Rxa4 Bd6 17. b4! Bxc6 18. dxc6 cxb4 19. Rxb4 1 : 0.

Carlsen succeeded in outplaying Aronian in the opening and in the ensuing complications as well. Photo: Amruta Mokal and Sagar Shah/ChessBase India.

Castles of Sand

Fischerlander

丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) – Fabiano Caruana

Freestyle Chess G.O.A.T. Challenge Prelims Tournament; time control: 25 minutes plus 10 seconds per move; Wangels, February 9, 2024

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Position #33

1. d4 f5 2. c4 b6 3. b4 e6. Caruana must have been tempted by 3. ... Bxg2! 4. Kxg2 Qg6+ 5. Kf3 Qg4+ 6. Ke3 Qe4+ 7. Kd2 Qxb1, but after 8. Bc3 Nd6 9. Bc2 (trapping the Black Queen) 9. ... Nxc4+ the most he could obtain was a draw by perpetual check, which apparently is not his preferred outcome.
4. f3 Nd6 5. Nd2 f4! 6. Bc2 Nf5 7. Bxf5 exf5

8. Nd3! Feeling a little insecure at the thought of stagnating in a tenable but uncomfortable situation (for example: 8. Qf2 Bf6 9. Nd3 Qe3! 10. Rd1 Re8 11. b5 0-0-0!), 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) does not hesitate to sacrifice the Exchange in order to turn his haesitatio into actio.
8. ... Qe3+ 9. Rf2 Bh4 10. Nf1 Bxf2+ 11. Qxf2 Qxf2+ 12. Kxf2 d5 13. Nd2. 13. Nxf4 dxc4 15. d5 b5 is also quite complex, even though, of course, a little better for Black, who will probably castle on the a-side.
13. ... dxc4 14. Nxc4

14. ... g5!? Perhaps a little too conservatively, Caruana decides to return the Exchange in order to secure a small material advantage (a Pawn) which seems to be hardly convertible into a win.
15. d5 Bxd5 16. Bxh8 Bxc4 17. Bb2 Bxd3 18. exd3 Rd8. 18. ... 0-0-0!? is a pseudo-dual, and it might also be better than Black’s single Rook move. Whatever the case, Caruana preferred to keep his King on the h-side.
19. Ke2 Na6 20. Rc1 c5 21. bxc5 Nxc5 22. Bf6 Rxd3 23. Bxg5 Ra3 24. Rc2 Ne6 25. Bf6 Kf7

26. Be5?? An awful blunder, losing the Bishop. Yet, the idea to swing over the Bishop to the a1-h8 diagonal was basically right, leaving Black the task of demonstrating the value of his extra Pawn.
26. ... Re3+ 0 : 1.

No doubt 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) has still not recovered from his obscure illness properly yet. Photo: Amruta Mokal/ChessBase India.

You say it right, Edna: next Tuesday is Shrove Tuesday, and the day after is both Ash Wednesday and Valentine’s Day. So the question arises: how many tiramisus will you have eaten by the end of Wednesday night?

Artwork © stay aRt home (@stay.art.home)

Opelo za Bobija Fišera

Yeah, Edna, their first and only impulse is to censor what one says in order not to say to Tom, Dick and Harry what one wishes most

Artwork © Jose-Ramiro

L’Ennui

Of course, Edna, all contemporary things have their roots in the very nature of classical things

Artwork © Seddera Side (@sedderaside)

Another Way to Play

In an interview with André Schulz of ChessBase, Jan Henric Buettner, German entrepreneur and owner of Gut Weißenhaus (Grand Village Weissenhaus), recounts how he got to conceive and organise the first-ever Fischerandom chess (chess960) super-tournament at classical time control, named “Freestyle Chess G.O.A.T. Challenge”, to be hosted from February 9–16 in the Weissenhaus Private Nature Luxury Resort in Wangels on the Baltic Sea, Germany. Buettner said he did nothing but fulfill the wishes of unrivaled world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen: “Magnus Carlsen definitely wanted to play Chess960 — I didn’t even know what that was at first. I thought the Random story was great. But the name was too insidery. That’s why it’s now called Freestyle. People understand the name even if they’re not insiders. And G.O.A.T Challenge, because the Greatest Of All Time, Magnus Carlsen, is being challenged”, he said. Other participants, namely: Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Levon Grigori Aronian, Fabiano Caruana, 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén), Alireza Firouzja, Dommaraju Gukesh, and Vincent Keymer, were also named by Carlsen, who thus hopes to make Fischer’s chess a global brand as well as another Kingdom of his.

To be sure, Edna, mere height is not everything; physique du rôle is what counts

Artwork © JPG (@thedollcadet)

The Pillars of Creation

Columns of gray gas and dust emerge amid the Eagle Nebula, also called M16, and often referred to as the “Pillars of Creation” in a composite image taken by the James Webb Telescope. Backed by dark orange mist, the cloudy gray columns are surrounded by dozens of soft, glowing, pink and purple dots; massive stars emitting enormous amounts of X-rays. Photo: NASA/ESA.

After all, Edna, no one can lose what one doesn’t have

Faceup © pokeifaceups (@pokeifaceups)

Hot Tea With Sugar

On the evening of January 30, 2024, a research meeting devoted to discussion of organisational and developmental strategies for the future editions of the City Chess League was held in 城阳区 (Chéngyáng District), 青岛 (Qīngdǎo), 山东省 (Shāndōng province), China, in the presence of four-time Women’s World Chess Champion 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán), pictured seated (first from left), and 卜祥志 (Bǔ Xiángzhì). Photo: Chinese Chess Association.

As they say, Edna, the more one thinks, the less one understands

Artwork © Steve Huntsman’s Character Art

Time Is Not Forever

Saturday afternoon in Piazza Vincenzo Fardella da Torrearsa at Campo di Marte in Florence, Italy, is anything but a holiday to “The girl in the pullover” standing alone and playing around without a rider.

Postcard from the Past

Personal check, 6 x 3, filled out and signed by Bobby Fischer, paid to Claudia Mokarow (née Evanow) for 100.00, November 1, 1974. Photo: RR Auction.

Well, Edna, to quote Edmond Dantes, “the sum of all human wisdom will be contained in these two words: Wait and hope”

Artwork © 𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒓 𝑹𝒊𝒏𝒈 (@star_ring_sr)

The Big Shuffle

Shylock Incognito

Masked revellers take part in the Venice carnival in St. Mark’s Square in Venice, Italy. Photo: Guglielmo Mangiapane/Reuters.

There’s nothing to understand, Edna; warmongers want endless wars just for money

Artwork © T E E S H A ♉️ (@__latishaleigh)

Hello, Goodbye

Homage to Amedeo Giacomini (1939–2006)

Giorgio Agamben, Quodlibet, January 31, 2024

Al va ae sô fin il secul boe, in balfuèriis di bàlis, tanche un nemâl menât di grìviis mans al massèl, di becjârs che le bielisie dal jessi a’ no san, ni il siò mâr... Al va marumât e nô ‘i stin culì, malâts di muart a cjalâlu murî— Mandi, tiare d’amôr, fate pustote di savalons sot un sil smâvit d’unviâr, grîs e sense un svuâl!... Volge alla fine il secolo malvagio, in risse di menzogna, come una bestia portata da grevi mani al macello, da beccai che la bellezza dell’essere non sanno, né il suo amaro... Se ne va intristito e noi stiamo qui, malati di morte a guardarlo morire— Salve, terra d’amore, fatta gleba di sabbie sotto un cielo smarrito d’inverno, grigio e senza un volo!... The wicked century is verging to its end, through brawls of lie, like a beast carried to the slaughterhouse by grave hands of butchers oblivious to the beauty of being and to its bitterness... It goes away saddened and we stay here, ill of death to watch it die— Goodbye, land of love, made glebe of sands under a sky bewildered by winter, gray and without a flight!...

(English translation by I, Robot)

Kazimir Severinovich Malevich, Death of the Man on the Airplane and on the Train at the Same Time, 1913. Courtesy of WikiArt.

One more day, Edna, and you would have won it all!

Photo © Willow Phlox (@willowcollects)