meniscus
Tim
Nashville, United States 
Member Since: Feb 7, 2009
Last Login: Nov 20, 2009
Profile Views: 4023
Points: 1436
Status: Noone to be trifled with. (91 minutes ago)
Occupation: Elementary school chess teacher and Nashvillechess.org librarian.
About Me:
I was raised half ninja, half pianist. I am progressive politically, but would prefer a social democracy. That means I don't want to hear about how you're campaigning for Glenn Beck's presidental bid, should it occur.
Call to action: Lobby for additional Eugene Perylstein videos on chess.com! The 2-3 he has done are among the best!
http://www.chess.com/video/player/an-instructive-attacking-game
Benko gambits, Benko Bucks! That's how it is in the class sections. I netted ties for 2nd place North American Open 07' u1700; 3rd place World Open 07' u1600. I was Nashville Chess Center's Blitz Grand Prix champion in 2007 and 2nd place 2008, but haven't been playing blitz so much this year.
I like group analysis for learning and preparation, etc. It is better to analyze imperfectly and be corrected by humans, who can explain positional motivations and debate evaluations, than it is to use engines. Working at it is key--analysis is a skill! Smyslov is my favorite player of all time. He, Spassky, and Capablanca developed the skill of analysis when adjournment still occurred.
Analyze with others, not by yourself!!!
- Teaching a position or explaining your ideas is great, and the benefit of doing so is reciprocal. When have to vocalize your motivations for a move or strategical operations, you question the purposes, reinforce your memory and familiarity for similar games in the future, identify and refine any unnecessary logic in your decisions, and get great criticism from your friends!
- Group analysis is best done with those you know, not with strangers in public forums: Firstly, you and your friends want human analysis, not some stranger with the most accurate line you've ever seen. Mistakes are GOOD--you catch eachother's missed opportunities, etc. It is a process--and the idea is to improve at chess analysis without public publishing of your conversation, Just like all the masters did during Adjournment and still do during "post mortem".
- It is safe to suggest any move with your amigos.There is a line between criticism and insult that your friends won't cross.
I have started one that my personal friends can join, the group Palindrome, although it's more non-public topics and surprise opening weapons than it is ongoing analysis discussion....I hope that we do more soon.
but, there aren't many people who I know that study on a regular basis around here...
Palindrome is also the title to my blog. It's private as well, sorry. My fictional rock band title is also a palindrome. We're called:
star c0medy DemocRats
it features emi, the skillet.
I named it that because it is palindromic... My 4th [sometimes 6th] favorite palindrome is:
Oozy rat in a sanitary zoO.
i write palindrome haiku as well (to order).
yo, banana boy:
put eliot's toilet up
live not on evil
Here's my tournament finishes from 2007--I was a 1400 rated uscf player (I hadn't played rated in 7 years--I raised 400 points from these events alone). They're interesting enough, but I post them because they both earned a place at a major tournament (and $1500 and $3000, respectively!)
In closing: the princess bride IS the best move ever.
Life Aquatic? Adaptation? Big Lebowsky?
These are not strangers to my list. An African swallow, maybe, but not a European one. That's my point.
Now watch these games, or as Bush [the wrong wing ex-president] once said, "This drive". He was talking about initiative. ha. [source: Fareinheit 9-11, 2007]
