Post by petejwatts on Sept 1, 2014 23:16:36 GMT -5
I am tempted to title this "By the light of the silvery moon" except we werent playing by it, we were playing primarily by the light of my cellphone. Moon is the name of a very nice Korean guy I unexpectedly ended up playing on Saturday, when I thought I was taking a day of chess in the country. I dont know if he is related to a certain Reverend... He is a resident of an "Eco Village" called Runnymede after the nearby place where Magna Carta was signed. No-one else played chess there and he asked me for a game, and between we "christened" the village chess set, which apparently hadnt been used prior to that point. I usually find players who dont play regularly arent usually very good and I seriously underestimated him, playing loosely and and badly in our first game to lose quickly. Suitably chastised, I resolved to play more seriously the next game, but alas by that time the daylight was almost gone and I hadnt yet realized we could play by the light of my phone so I could hardly see his Black pieces - also I was getting hungry and as a diabetic, low blood sugar, and again he had a probably positional win from the opening. He had a supported irremovable Knight on e2 which imo was worth at least a Rook, but he opted to exchange it for one of my Rooks, which was probably also winning were it not for the fact that I also won a Pawn, which might just save me. I ended up with Queen, two Knights and four pawns against Queen Rook, Bishop and 3 Pawns and I was pretty resigned to no more than fighting to Draw, and probably failing. However I think he must have overestimated my ability, as we were playing without a clock and he thought for several minutes over some of his moves, telling me afterward he thought he was losing as I had lots of threats! I was still playing for the draw and decided to force off the Queens, and we got down to this: I as White had King on h3, Pawns on g2,g3 and f4, and a Knight on g5. he as Black and to move had King on h8, Rook on g8, and Pawns on h7 amd and f5. After a long think he played to my astonishment, R x N!? I'm seriously inclined to give that just a ! or even !! because it was so unexpected and is undoubtedly his best chance of winning, as despite his material advantage without the sac I must surely be able to hold for the Draw. I thought it was a blunder at first. Ok, after P x R my Pawns are now tripled, but I have 3 to his 2 - surely I must get at least the Draw from this? In fact the situation is very precarious for White and the only one who has any winning chances is him. at 5 am in the morning I cant at this point be bothered giving a detailed analysis right now but take a look at it and see for yourself. I might go into more detail later. He ended up winning two of my pawns, and I found myself trying to remember the theory for this. In the end we agreed I did have a Draw. He actually called it a Remis. He's only the second player I've ever come across who used that term and confirmed he is an experienced player. Alas he never comes to London, so we wont see him in our community, and as Summer dies visiting his Village will tend to lose its appeal, butI'd love to give him more games by daylight and with a full stomach.