On Tue, 23 Aug 2005 04:17:47 GMT, (Sam Sloan)
wrote:

On 22 Aug 2005 06:37:16 -0700, wrote:

37.Rxb7? allowed Qc1! (the move you did not see) 38.Bf1 Nf3 and
black has some advantage.

Antonio Torrecillas
FIDE Master (rated 2396)

You are certainly correct that I completely missed the move 37. ....
Qc1+. However, this move leads to more than just "some advantage". It
completely wins the game.

White must reply with 38. Bf1. Otherwise it is mate.

Then, after 38. ... Nf3+ if White moves his king Black wins the queen.
For example 39. Kg2 Nd7+ 40. Kh2 Nf1+ 41. Kg2 Nxg3+or 40. f3 Qxf1+ 41.
Kh2 Nxf3+.

Therefore, White must sacrifice his queen with 39. Qxf3 but then Black
will win with 39. ... Bxf3 40. Rb8+ Kf7 41. Nxd4 Bd5. White tries to
set up a fortress to hold a draw but I believe that Black can
eventually penetrate and win.

After 40 Rb3, Fritz gives you only a small edge. After 40 ... Bc6, 41
Nxd4, material is equal and all on the same side of the board. After
41 ... Be4 Re3, how are you ever going to break through?

On Mon, 22 Aug 2005 21:32:07 -0700, Mike Murray
wrote:

On Tue, 23 Aug 2005 04:17:47 GMT, (Sam Sloan)
wrote:

On 22 Aug 2005 06:37:16 -0700, wrote:

37.Rxb7? allowed Qc1! (the move you did not see) 38.Bf1 Nf3 and
black has some advantage.

Antonio Torrecillas
FIDE Master (rated 2396)

You are certainly correct that I completely missed the move 37. ....
Qc1+. However, this move leads to more than just "some advantage". It
completely wins the game.

White must reply with 38. Bf1. Otherwise it is mate.

Then, after 38. ... Nf3+ if White moves his king Black wins the queen.
For example 39. Kg2 Nd7+ 40. Kh2 Nf1+ 41. Kg2 Nxg3+or 40. f3 Qxf1+ 41.
Kh2 Nxf3+.

Therefore, White must sacrifice his queen with 39. Qxf3 but then Black
will win with 39. ... Bxf3 40. Rb8+ Kf7 41. Nxd4 Bd5. White tries to
set up a fortress to hold a draw but I believe that Black can
eventually penetrate and win.

After 40 Rb3, Fritz gives you only a small edge. After 40 ... Bc6, 41
Nxd4, material is equal and all on the same side of the board. After
41 ... Be4 Re3, how are you ever going to break through?

I think you are right. The game is a draw. Neither side will be able
to pentrate the other side.

I think I have a slight advantage in that is is easier and more likely
for White to blunder than for Black to blunder, but with best pklay
the position is drawn.

Sam Sloan

So Sam, are we on? There's a lot of interest out here in western NJ. Ken
Thomas would host and we'd probably have a decent audience as well. There's
even talk of a Calcutta-type auction so there could be more $$ in this than
our $100.

BTW, I offered Ken 2:1 money odds and 2:1 time odds to play me from "the
position" and he turned me down. He's only rated about 200 points lower than
me so I don't understand why he wouldn't take a sure winning position (or so
he thinks). I'd play a 2100 player under those conditions (from the White
side, of course) any day of the week.

Are you ducking me?

"Sam Sloan" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 22 Aug 2005 01:53:08 -0400, "Angelo DePalma"
wrote:


The Damiano is a forced win for White. 3. Nxe5! wins in every variation.
The
fact that neither player took the pawn doesn't mean anything. I'll take it
from you and win 3.5 out of 5 at G/20. Bet you $50.

OK. I will take that bet. As I understand it, all I have to do is
score 2 out of 5 to win the match. Correct? Let's make it $100.

Where will we play this match? I would prefer game in 30 giving us
time to write down the moves so that we can publish them here.

Who was the other player?


The other player was very weak, the game not worth posting or looking
at. The only thing of note is that after I played 2. .... f6 he
commented, "That is the worst move on the board", but then he did not
take the pawn.

Anyway here is the game, but please do not bother to play it over.

Sam Sloan

[Event "Viking 4 County Open"]
[Site "Hackettstown NJ"]
[Date "2005.08.20"]
[Round "03"]
[White "Mitchell, Calvin"]
[Black "Sloan, Sam"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C40"]


1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f6 3.d3 Nc6 4.Be2 Bc5 5.c3 d5 6.O-O Nge7 7.b4 Bb6
8.a4 a6 9.Na3 Be6 10.Bb2 Qd7 11.exd5 Nxd5 12.b5 axb5 13.axb5 Nce7
14.c4 Nf4 15.Bxe5 fxe5 16.Nxe5 Qd6 17.Nf3 Rxa3 18.Rxa3 Qxa3
19.Qd2 O-O 20.Re1 Ba5 21.Qe3 Bxe1 22.Nxe1 Qa1 23.Kf1 Neg6 24.Bf3
Bf5 25.Bd5+ Nxd5 26.cxd5 Bd7 27.f3 Re8 28.Qd2 Bxb5 29.Kf2 Qd4+
30.Kg3 Qh4# 0-1

On Tue, 23 Aug 2005 13:41:31 -0400, "Angelo DePalma"
wrote:


So Sam, are we on? There's a lot of interest out here in western NJ. Ken
Thomas would host and we'd probably have a decent audience as well. There's
even talk of a Calcutta-type auction so there could be more $$ in this than
our $100.

BTW, I offered Ken 2:1 money odds and 2:1 time odds to play me from "the
position" and he turned me down. He's only rated about 200 points lower than
me so I don't understand why he wouldn't take a sure winning position (or so
he thinks). I'd play a 2100 player under those conditions (from the White
side, of course) any day of the week.

Why do you want the match to be unrated??

Sam Sloan

Sam Sloan wrote:
On Tue, 23 Aug 2005 13:41:31 -0400, "Angelo DePalma"
wrote:


So Sam, are we on? There's a lot of interest out here in western NJ. Ken
Thomas would host and we'd probably have a decent audience as well. There's
even talk of a Calcutta-type auction so there could be more $$ in this than
our $100.

Well as a Latvian Gambit (or Greco's Counter Gambit IIRC) "junkie", all
this
is mildly amusing. Since the relevant moves involve themes
exhaustively checked by the Latvians, look at transposing into lines of
this.

1.e4 e5
2.Nf3 (not sure this old move is the best, maybe try Bc4 (this is a
joke!))
2... f5?! (or !? according to some)

Now white has Nxe5, ef, and other fun things to try.

Cheers!

I prefer it be rated as action chess. But if you insist I will play it as a
G/30 or longer, as long as there are no rating restrictions on thematic
tournaments.

So?

"Sam Sloan" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 23 Aug 2005 13:41:31 -0400, "Angelo DePalma"
wrote:


So Sam, are we on? There's a lot of interest out here in western NJ. Ken
Thomas would host and we'd probably have a decent audience as well.
There's
even talk of a Calcutta-type auction so there could be more $$ in this
than
our $100.

BTW, I offered Ken 2:1 money odds and 2:1 time odds to play me from "the
position" and he turned me down. He's only rated about 200 points lower
than
me so I don't understand why he wouldn't take a sure winning position (or
so
he thinks). I'd play a 2100 player under those conditions (from the White
side, of course) any day of the week.

Why do you want the match to be unrated??

Sam Sloan

I take Sam's silence to mean he's chicken to accept the Damiano Knight from
someone who's studied the opening for 10 minutes.

Cluck.

"Sam Sloan" wrote in message
...
Damiano's Defense Declined

Opponents are becoming afraid of my Damiano's Defense. I played it
twice in the Viking 4 County Open in Hackettstown NJ yesterday and
both of my opponents declined to take the pawn. I won the first game
easily. In the second game I played it against a rated master. I
achieved a winning position and I was thinking that I was going to
score my first victory over a master with the Damiano's Defense.
However, he came up with a fantastic queen sacrifice followed by a
bishop sacrifice which worked because my pieces happened to be in
exactly the right spot for a knight fork winning the game.

I cannot take any credit away from my opponent. He came up with
something really good. This should go in one of those White to play
and win problem collections.

After the game, I asked him why he did not take the pawn when I played
Damianos Defense. He said that he has overheard me mention Damianos
Defense in one of my conversations so he knew that I knew what I was
doing. Also, I had won my previous round game with Damianos Defense.
He said that he wanted to win the game, so he decided that he has
better not take that pawn.

He also said that he has see my picture in Chess Life magazine but he
had thought that I was just a chess politico. He had not realized that
I actually play the game too!

Here is the game: The first point of the game is that after 1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 f6 3. Nc3 Bc5 he can no longer take the pawn because when he
checks with the queen I have the f8 square for my king. So, if he
wants to take the pawn he must do it on move three. Otherwise, the
opportunity will be lost forever.

Because of his passive play, I quickly built up an overwhelming
position and won a pawn. I would appreciate it if somebody could run
this game through Fritz because I believe that I had several wins.

I felt that my 35. . . . d4 was a good move because it set up knight
forks. One of the spectators, a master, felt that that was the losing
move however.

For sure, if he had not sacrificed his queen he had a bad position,
possibly losing, because of 38. Kg2 Ne5+ 39. Kh2 Bxb7. Although
material is equal, my threats of knight forks and discovered checks
against his exposed king gives me the advantage.

During the game, I though he could win with a rook sacrifice with 36.
Rxb5. However, after the game he pointed out that he had seen that and
instead I win by responding with a queen sacrifice with 36. Rxb5 Qxb5
!!

Sam Sloan

[Event "Viking 4 County Open"]
[Site "Hackettstown NJ"]
[Date "2005.08.20"]
[Round "04"]
[White "West, James R."]
[Black "Sloan, Sam"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C40"]
[WhiteElo "2206"]
[BlackElo "1941"]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f6 3.Nc3 Bc5 4.Bc4 Ne7 5.d3 c6 6.a4 d5 7.Bb3 Bg4
8.h3 Bh5 9.Qe2 Qd6 10.a5 Nd7 11.Na4 Bb4+ 12.Bd2 b5 13.axb6 axb6
14.g4 Bg6 15.c3 Ba5 16.exd5 cxd5 17.Bc2 b5 18.Nc5 Qxc5 19.b4 Qc7
20.O-O O-O 21.bxa5 Rxa5 22.Rxa5 Qxa5 23.c4 Qc7 24.Bb4 Re8 25.cxb5
Qb6 26.Bxe7 Rxe7 27.Rb1 Nc5 28.Nh4 Be8 29.d4 Ne6 30.Nf5 Rb7
31.dxe5 Bxb5 32.Qd2 Qc5 33.exf6 gxf6 34.Bd3 Ng5 35.Qe3 d4 36.Qg3
Bc6 37.Rxb7 Nf3+ 38.Qxf3 (38. Kg2 Ne5+ 39. Kh2 Bxb7) 38...Bxf3
39.Bc4+ {Black resigns because of Qxc4 40. Rb8+ Kf7 41. Nd6# or 39.
... Kf8 40. Rb8+ Qc8 41. Qxc8#) 1-0

On Tue, 23 Aug 2005 23:41:48 -0400, "Angelo DePalma"
wrote:

I prefer it be rated as action chess. But if you insist I will play it as a
G/30 or longer, as long as there are no rating restrictions on thematic
tournaments.

So?

There are no such restrictions. Mike Goodall holds a King's Gambit
Tournament every year in San Francisco. It is fully USCF rated and
very successful.

I am ready to play if you can find a place.

Unfortunately, Hackettstown is a three hour trip each way or a total
of six hours.

The lady at the Marshall Chess Club does not like me so we cannot play
there.

A public park is undesirable.

The Manhattan Chess Club is out of business.

I know of no other place.

Why are you afraid of losing all those rating points?

Admittedlty it will be bad for your reputation to lose 5-0 to the
Damiano's Defense.

Sam Sloan

On Wed, 24 Aug 2005 23:20:42 -0400, "Angelo DePalma"
wrote:

I take Sam's silence to mean he's chicken to accept the Damiano Knight from
someone who's studied the opening for 10 minutes.

I admit that part of the idea of playing Damoano's Defense is the
element of surprise. I often pretend like I intended to play 1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 f5 and the pawn accidentally slipped out of my hand and landed
on f6 instead of f5 by mistake.

Obviously, if you have had time to run it through Fritz and know
exactly what I am going to play, as I have posted it on this group, I
have lost a large part of my advantage.

Still, I am willing to play although I admit that I am less confident
of victory than I was against a really, really weak player like Bill
Brock or against an absolute beginner like Taylor Kingston.

Sam Sloan

"Sam Sloan" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 24 Aug 2005 23:20:42 -0400, "Angelo DePalma"
wrote:

I take Sam's silence to mean he's chicken to accept the Damiano Knight
from
someone who's studied the opening for 10 minutes.

I admit that part of the idea of playing Damoano's Defense is the
element of surprise. I often pretend like I intended to play 1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 f5 and the pawn accidentally slipped out of my hand and landed
on f6 instead of f5 by mistake.

LOL! Spoke like a real hustler.

Obviously, if you have had time to run it through Fritz and know
exactly what I am going to play, as I have posted it on this group, I
have lost a large part of my advantage.

But will they remember it OTB if they had only 5 minutes? There are so many
chess theoreticians and so few actual players...

Still, I am willing to play although I admit that I am less confident
of victory than I was against a really, really weak player like Bill
Brock or against an absolute beginner like Taylor Kingston.

....so many theoreticians and so few players!

Maybe we should all promote Sam aged 60 [about] into a star! I already
talked with someone about him as being a 'character' for TV and since other
people here are so pale in their enthusiasms, or non-players when it
actually comes down to it, or don't really have a real existence and are
personas only who we should accept at their own recommendation [lol!] -
then why not?

It would make him some money, and some fame, and dammit! Establish Tal's
idea by a demonstration that OTB chess is a game for gladiators, and any old
patzer can be wise armed with Fritz and 48 hours to be smarter-than-thou -
but those people are not chess players, they are kibbitzers who only attempt
to borrow a little glory.

I have read various people who say Tal was the greatest player of the past
age, and of course everyone also mentions Fischer, like him or not for his
personal charms, but in reasonable health and mostly sober Tal slaughtered
'em all in the late sixties. And he didn't do so by being theoretically
sound, and neither should anyone here think that their proposals of sound
play are evidence of their own worth as chess players when the clock is
ticking.

This is what seperates the great ones from the rest of us, and indeed,
players from the fantacists.

Phil Innes

Sam Sloan