Thank the Gods it was for "Fun"

Summary:

Casual play at food court causes Farrar to rethink Chess career

Thank the Gods it was for "Fun"

Farrar 30 Jun 2007 04:57

The Food Court,
Farrar normally orders a foot long chicken breast sandwich from Subway with spinach, black olives, Swiss, and spicy mustard. Today, for some reason, he added Jalapenos.

As is customary when hitting the Food Court, Chess must be played. Farrar and Speth had already played their scheduled round robin match with a victory going to JF. It was decided (luckily for the Chairman), that today's match would not "count". After all, the winless Speth did not need his rating to plummet yet further. Both players agreed; the mentor would play the "student" for the fun of the game.

The so called "fun" was over very quickly for "Mr. Know-It-All". After Speth placed a Knight on the edge which was quickly traded by Farrar's King's Bishop, leaving Speth with awkward doubled A pawns, "The Teach" felt in control. But then, like out of sometype of Passion Play, Speth boldly marched a center pawn deep into Farrar's turf. Speth, seeing a solid post for his knight, capitalized and planted the horse deep.

But, JF had years of experience, hundreds of kids taught, Grandmaster's played under his belt. He knew that Speth's pawn structure was severely broken. An end game should be relatively easy to win.

Then, after much jockeying and trade offers, the unthinkable happened. On move 34, Farrar writes a move down, "Rf2" to protect his second rank. He is about to make the move and stops…. NO, that would invite a back rank mate with Re1+. He quickly scratches the mistake out. "I need to use my Queen side pawn structure advantage… best to take the hanging a-pawn to loosen up Speth's structure further." And that was the last thought that entered Farrar's mind.

The ill capture was made. Speth (in near faint) shot his Rook to e1.

There was no escape. No retreat. No block that could not be simply taken with mate. Farrar studied…. studied….. nothing.

With a flick of his finger, the White king was on it's side. Like Nixon, resignation in total humiliation.

The "teacher" was "taught". Speth's victory, albeit hollow in the standings, was as real as they come.

Farrar - Speth : 0-1 (and no more formal lessons)

Congrats to Speth… a victory well earned!!!

Re: Thank the Gods it was for "Fun"

ppalmerjr 30 Jun 2007 12:50

Wow! Now that is what chess is all about. Doesn't matter about your past experiences or adventures. Only the pieces on the board at that moment matter! When playing Speth myself, I could tell he had very good moves in him. Farrar has trained a monster and evidently under estimated the student in this match.

Congratulations to Speth on a huge win!! Next time no play for fun - make it ranked :-)

Re: Thank the Gods it was for "Fun"

Conzar 01 Jul 2007 02:44

It was a good game. My Jedi Master went over the Scotch opening with me a few days prior to us playing … which he played on me. So to his credit, he helped me at least setup a counter-attack to himself. We did stray a bit from the mainline early on due to some interesting maneuvers.

Also, John has spent considerable time explaining strategy, fundamentals, and all other aspects of the game with me. All my knowledge in the game can be attributed to him. When he started "training" me in the ways of the Jedi … I mean chess player, all I knew how to do was move some sticks/rocks around. Before I knew it, I had my blaster shield down and was deflecting that laser fire without hesitation.

No more training … so does that mean I'm a Jedi Knight now?