Woolloomooloo! BOS blitz BAL
(Beat Reporter: Mark LaRocca)
“Immanuel Kant was a real pissant
Who was very rarely stable.”
The mood was jovial this 10th and final week of the Blitz season. I could tell almost immediately they had hit the elixir a bit hard before the match… since each of our Bruces had a toast in mind as they raised their glasses and burst into joyful song… mind you, there was not a pufter in the bunch… No, these hardened, grizzled veterans of many a chess war were ready for action.
My mood, on the other hand (that would be the left…as I’m right most of the time), was melancholy… as was the song I had in my heart…
“The party's over
It's time to call it a day”
But, don’t let me get you down… it certainly is not a day, or night, for that. The Blitz were never a bunch to analyze and philosophize… or dwell’ize too much on the fact that they were out if it… And, if you follow the Blitz blog at all, you know we always end with a song… but, which song, dear reader, which song?
Just then the glasses smashed against the 50 inch plasma TV of SOCH… the stunned students couldn’t believe their eyes… and the Blitz players merrily skipped out of the main hall and into the annals of dancing chess team history… Let’s follow them, if you will… as IM “Bruce” Zierk leads us in frivolous, yet determined, chorus… in this fabulous, totally ignored, gem of a game.
I can see him now, as clearly as if I were still there… standing fiercely over his board… daring his opponent to play 1.e4… with the gruesome chant…
“Heidegger, Heidegger was a boozy beggar
Who could think you under the table.”
GM Niclas Huschenbeth (BAL) vs IM Steven “Bruce” Zierk (BOS) – Board 1
So, who said Bishops are the Soul of Chess… or even that they are better than Knights. Such a great game, I really enjoyed this one, and didn’t find a fault in it… at least not one that was less than 10 moves deep. Boston (1 – 0)
Still, I felt the tug of deep depression… as the sound of Judy’s voice confirmed...
“They've burst your pretty balloon
And taken the moon away”
Yet, reality spoke differently… and SM “Bruce” Shmelov certainly spun a beginning to end beauty of a game… at some point, I think he leaned into his computer and, as if his opponent could hear him, softly crooned…
“David Hume could out-consume
Schopenhauer and Hegel,”
Probably just the ale talking… but then, “Bruce” never was one to overstate things.
SM Demus “Bruce” Shmelov (BOS) vs IM Tegshuren Enkhbat (BAL) – Board 2
Now, if you can find a better game that this one… well, you can slap me in the face and call me hot buttered toast. Beginning to end, this was one of “Bruce’s” best… almost makes you feel sorry for his opponent… Naahhh!... Boston (2 – 0)
Yet, I couldn’t feel the joy… It was that music rattling against the canyon walls inside my noggin…
“It's time to wind up the masquerade
Just make your mind up the piper must be paid”
Sad, but too true. This was Bruce’s last hurrah… until next year. You would think that our third board would have a little respect for the poignancy of the moment… But, noooo!… Not NM “Bruce” Martirosov… defacto leader of the choir…
“And Wittgenstein was a beery swine
Who was just as schloshed as Schlegel.”
Hmmm… some respect for the game would be nice…
NM Jared Defibaugh (BAL) vs NM Vadim “Bruce” Martirosov (BOS) – Board 3
So, Bruce missed one lousy… but simple… combination… which, by the way, manager “Bruce” Krasik spotted immediately… without the benefit of a chess engine I would add. It was a royal game worthy of our praise. Now that I think of it… I don’t recall three better games all year than these… Boston (3 – 0)
That is not to say that my mood changed with this… it did not… I could only grab my ears to block the silver tones that permeated the air…
“You danced and dreamed through the night
It seemed to be right just being with him”
Wait… Wait just a minute… I’m no pufter… no sir… but, I do like a good waltz… and dancing in the moonlight…
Could NM “Bruce” Mosiyenko pull it off… maybe a sweep could help me… His tones were low… baritone in nature… an omen, perhaps…
“Hobbes was fond of his dram,
And Rene Descartes was a drunken fart: "I drink, therefore I am" ”
Well, no wonder Bruce was singing lowly…
NM Daniil Mosiyenko (BOS) vs Jeffrey Chang (BAL) – Board 4
Perhaps an undeserved ending… Bruce seemed in control most of the way… just that urge to complete the sweep, I guess… Boston (3 – 1)
No harm, no foul, no final win to cheer me up… as I drone on… this Holliday song...
“Take off your makeup, the party's over
It's all over, my friend”
Wait… Wait a minute… I do not wear makeup… although I appreciate its use… come to think of it… maybe I could use a little eye shadow... but, that's it... oh, and maybe some light powder... for the cameras... right Tony?
That brings us to our final chorus… our swan song on the 2013 season… always leave ‘em singing I say…
“Yes, Socrates, himself, is particularly missed;
A lovely little thinker but a bugger when he's pissed!”
Well, it’s back to the University of Woolloomooloo and another course in music theory for our heroes.
See y'all next year… with a song in our hearts… GO BLITZ!
