Tuesday, July 31, 2007

These quizzes are addicting


You scored as Acetylcholine,You are acetylcholine! You are the person that everyone likes. You are outgoing, flexible, kind, giving, creative, funny.. just an all around amazing person! You have an amazingly quick-witted mind and your imagination is impeccable. You are very lucky to have this dominant neurotransmitter, it is a rare gift! But be careful, sometimes you can become paranoid and feel that life is taking advantage of you. Be sure to take your DMAE to keep your acetylcholine levels balanced!

Which Neurotransmitter (Brain Chemical) Are You?
created with QuizFarm.com

Acetylcholine

92%

Endorphins

75%

Dopamine

58%

GABA

50%

Serotonin

50%

Norepinephrine

42%

Which Neurotransmitter (Brain Chemical) Are You?
created with QuizFarm.com

Sunday, July 29, 2007

Italfama


Italfama makes the best chess pieces and boards in my opinion. The pieces they craft are mostly metal but some are a metal and wood combination. Ive been eyeing these particular pieces for a couple years. They are sleek and difficult to distinguish from one another. Everything I look for in a set.
Here is a link to Italfamas elegant collection that will someday be mine.
http://www.italfama.net/Italfama/Ita/start.html

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Yugoslav Attack


1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 O-O 8.Qd2 Nc6 9.Bc4.

As Jonathan Maxwell puts it in his book Blitz Theory:

"The magic in this attack lies in the perfect starting position of the king rook and dark squared bishop. Since our opponent's fianchetto structure defines the weaknesses for us at f6, h6 and h7, we have a tailor made plan for a rapid and lethal battle. We just exchange dark bishops with our queen battery, then pry open the "h" file with our pawn."

I have had a chance to play this opening a few times in the past week. All internet play, against some strong players and some wannabe kid hustlers. Like the other opening analyses on Knight Skewer:

http://knightskewer.blogspot.com/2006/07/danish-gambit.html

http://knightskewer.blogspot.com/2006/07/botvinnik-formation.html

http://knightskewer.blogspot.com/2006/07/french-defense.html

http://knightskewer.blogspot.com/2006/08/budapest-gambit.html

http://knightskewer.blogspot.com/2006/08/colle-system.html

I will continue to update this post as I learn the ins and outs of the Yugoslav. Its definately aggressive and a balanced knowledge of attacking is going to be key. Powerful attacks are on of the weaker aspects of my game, but perhaps not for long.

Thursday, July 19, 2007

What is this guy thinking?!


Chessloser posted a link to some sexual chess pics the other day. Its impossible to resist the urge to look at them. Truly ridiculous and disappointing that someone thought of this and executed it before we did. When I saw this picture I became genuinely curious about what he is thinking. Really, what could be going through your head at a moment like that? Dildo to e4? My fiancee has the bishop in her dresser? Please, create a caption and maybe we can get closer to the truth of such absurdity.

Sunday, July 15, 2007

Welcome to the Pawn Shaman Circus


Best if watched with music that is heavy on the accordion. Like Illinois Street Lounge from http://somafm.com/ .

My first attempt at using the Yugoslav. Look at those ponies go.

[White "PawnShaman2"]
[Black "ReverendDominus"]
[Result "1-0"]

1.e4 e5
2.Ng1f3 d6
3.d4 exd4
4.Nf3xd4 Ng8f6
5.Nb1c3 c5
6.Nd4f3 Bc8g4
7.Bc1e3 Bf8e7
8.Bf1e2 O-O
9.Nf3g5 Bg4xe2
10.Nc3xe2 h6
11.Ng5f3 Nf6xe4
12.Qd1d3 Ne4f6
13.O-O-O a6
14.Qd3d2 b5
15.Be3xh6 gxh6
16.Qd2xh6 Nf6h7
17.h4 f6
18.g4 Rf8f7
19.Rd1g1 Rf7g7
20.g5 fxg5
21.hxg5 Be7xg5+
22.Nf3xg5 Qd8f6
23.Ng5xh7 Qf6xh6+
24.Rh1xh6 Rg7xg1+
25.Ne2xg1 Nb8d7
26.Nh7g5 Ra8f8
27.Rh6g6+ Kg8h8
28.Ng1h3 Nd7e5
29.Rg6xd6 Rf8e8
30.b3 c4
31.f4 Ne5g4
32.Rd6d8 Re8xd8
33.Ng5f7+ Kh8g7
34.Nf7xd8 c3
35.Nd8c6 Kg7f6
36.Nc6d4 Ng4e3
37.Nh3f2 Ne3d5
38.Nf2e4+ Kf6e7
39.f5 Nd5b4
40.f6+ Ke7f7
41.a3 Nb4d5
42.Kc1d1 Nd5e3+
43.Kd1e2 Ne3d5
44.Ke2d3 Kf7g6
45.b4 Nd5xf6
46.Ne4xf6 Kg6xf6
47.Kd3xc3 Kf6e5
48.Nd4c6+ Ke5d5
49.Nc6b8 1-0

Dance rook Dance!

[White "ReverendDominus"]
[Black "PawnShaman2"]

1.e4 Ng8f6
2.e5 Nf6d5
3.Bf1c4 e6
4.d4 c5
5.Bc4xd5 exd5
6.c3 d6
7.Ng1f3 dxe5
8.Nf3xe5 Bf8d6
9.Ne5xf7 Ke8xf7
10.Qd1f3+ Qd8f6
11.Qf3xd5+ Qf6e6+
12.Qd5xe6+ Bc8xe6
13.O-O cxd4
14.cxd4 Rh8e8
15.f4 Nb8c6
16.f5 Be6c4
17.Rf1d1 Bc4e2
18.Rd1d2 Bd6b4
19.Rd2c2 Be2d3
20.Rc2xc6 bxc6
21.Bc1f4 Re8e1+
22.Kg1f2 Re1f1+
23.Kf2g3 Bb4e1+
24.Kg3g4 Bd3e2+
25.Kg4h3 Rf1xf4

Sunday, July 08, 2007

Trecherous waters ahead


The thundering storm clouds are ominously rolling in from the east. I am sick. The doctor said the new meds will take at least a couple more weeks to kick in. They make my stomach churn and chap my lips to hell. On top of it I just got over a cold. Eighteen hours of class per week for the next two. Twenty to thirty hours of work to boot. (Cue the Bagpipes) One more albatross might have me jumping ship. Its time to batten down the hatches and hold as close to course as possible. Its time for a new opening. One that terrifies the enemy. Breaks his spirit. Causes him to resign at the sight of unholy destruction. One born of angst and pain. The Yugoslav Attack.

Wednesday, July 04, 2007

Happy Fourth!



Remember that every generation has lost lives to gaurd the sacred freedoms we have. In war, poverty, crime and poor health they battled to keep freedom for themselves and pass it down to their children. That struggle continues and we must not lax. We all must press on and play our part.

"Our real problem, then, is not our strength today; it is rather the vital necessity of action today to ensure our strength tomorrow."
Dwight D. Eisenhower

"Let us never forget that government is ourselves and not an alien power over us. The ultimate rulers of our democracy are not a President and senators and congressmen and government officials, but the voters of this country."
Franklin D. Roosevelt

"Let us be sure that those who come after will say of us in our time, that in our time we did everything that could be done. We finished the race; we kept them free; we kept the faith."
Ronald Reagan

"Nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care."
Theodore Roosevelt

"Experience teaches us that it is much easier to prevent an enemy from posting themselves than it is to dislodge them after they have got possession."
George Washington

"I can hear you, the rest of the world can hear you and the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon."
George W. Bush

"Books constitute capital. A library book lasts as long as a house, for hundreds of years. It is not, then, an article of mere consumption but fairly of capital, and often in the case of professional men, setting out in life, it is their only capital."
Thomas Jefferson

"Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty."
John F. Kennedy