Of course yereslow is right; it's logical after all. Godena routinely plays 2300 rated guys barely managing to draw. That's how he maintains his 2500 rating: by drawing (when he is lucky) some 2300.
pfen, you are one of the best contributors here, why are you wasting time with this idiot? You offered him a model game from black as an example; he totally missed the point. Just let him alone with his ignorance, he is not going to listen at you.
Of course yereslow is right; it's logical after all. Godena routinely plays 2300 rated guys barely managing to draw. That's how he maintains his 2500 rating: by drawing (when he is lucky) some 2300.
pfen, you are one of the best contributors here, why are you wasting time with this idiot? You offered him a model game from black as an example; he totally missed the point. Just let him alone with his ignorance, he is not going to listen at you.
He has dropped several points in the past year losing against players 100-200 points below his rank.
I'm not impressed.
He won that game against Polgar when she was having a bad day.
It was not through his skillful play.
Saying he is anywhere near the power of players like Polgar is just retarded wishful thinking.
The guy hasn't won against a GM for a long time.
Another one of Michele Godena's genius games against a 2300:
His opponent in the game you posted is an experienced, slightly aged IM, who you cannot judge by any means.
Will you throw more of that, or you have run out of bullshit for today?
Is that your excuse? His games are full of draws against weaker opponents, and when he does face stronger players he loses 75% of the time.
There are more games like this.
He has dropped several points in the past year losing against players 100-200 points below his rank.
Oh yes, you're again right. May 2011: 2528 elo ; May 2012: 2521 elo (source:Fide rating list). Due to his well documented struggling against 2300 players he lost the enormous amount of 7 points in a year.
I'm not impressed.
He won that game against Polgar when she was having a bad day.
It was not through his skillful play.
I'm sure this judgement comes out of a deep analysis of the game.
Saying he is anywhere near the power of players like Polgar is just retarded wish
Nobody claimed anything like that. He is obviously weaker, as the rating proves. The point was to prove he is a dangerous opponent who has occasionally beaten world class opposition. Unsurprisingly, you managed to miss the point.
I love how Pfren finds Polgar's worst game and declares the opponent equavilent to her rank.
That's like finding a lost game by Alekhine where's he's drunk and semi-conscious and proclaiming the opponent a genius, or of the same caliber.
He has dropped several points in the past year losing against players 100-200 points below his rank.
Oh yes, you're again right. May 2011: 2528 elo ; May 2012: 2521 elo (source:Fide rating list). Due to his well documented struggling against 2300 players he lost the enormous amount of 7 points in a year.
I'm not impressed.
He won that game against Polgar when she was having a bad day.
It was not through his skillful play.
I'm sure this judgement comes out of a deep analysis of the game.
Saying he is anywhere near the power of players like Polgar is just retarded wish
Nobody claimed anything like that. He is obviously weaker, as the rating proves. The point was to prove he is a dangerous opponent who has occasionally beaten world class opposition. Unsurprisingly, you managed to miss the point.
No, it comes from the fact Polgar is many levels above him.
If he's so great, why has he been a 2500 for the past 15 years?
FYI Carlo D' Amore is a fairly strong IM, rated currently at 2484. A couple of years ago, he had no particular trouble drawing with Black against Caruana.
Michele Godena is actually a very strong player- Sergei Shipov has named him "The Italian Machine". His rating isn't that great because he is a well-known time-pressure addict, and he spoils great positions when short on time pretty frequently.
I was recently watching some games live from the mitropa cup, and by move 15 he unually has less that 5 minutes on the clock. He is really the greatest time trouble addict i have ever seen :D
In case you're interested, you can watch him playing live here http://www.crochess.com/mitropa/livem/index.html. The game starts in half an hour, and maybe you will manage to see one of his legendary time troubles :)
er....caruana was pretty young a few years ago.
anyways. i don't want to support yereslov in this lol.
By the time this game was played Caruana was indeed a woodpusher who was rated just 2709 by accident.
I wish I could woodpush my way to a 2700 rating. 
How much wood would a woodpusher push if a woodpusher would push wood?
Thank you for the link, Bresando.
Godena is definitely an enigma. He ALWAYS, invariably, plays the same openings (Sicilian c3 and Italian/2knights as white, e5 and traditional slav as Black), he never, ever cared to play something else, or surprise someone. His knowledge in that openings (the c3 sicilian in particular) is one of the greatest in the world, his positional understanding is superb, his technique next to flawless. So- why he is devoting so much time in the opening, when he faces positions he has probably played hundreds of times before? This is quite a mystery...
Yes, the surprising thing is that he often stops thinking for 20 minutes at move 8 or so, then you look at a database and you find that he already had the very same position 8 times in previous games.
Right now, he used 7 minutes on move 2...
Did you know that in my country "Greek" is a synonym for anal sex? True story.
My impression was that in your country you have no synonyms, as you can barely spell. Apologies.
And yes, Michele Godena is a weak player, who has no luck against strong opposition. How true.
Now, go on with your stupidity exchibition. It's no fun, but we cannot do anything to cure that.
@pfren -
While I disapprove of the conduct of both vereslov and brettgoodrich, especially with respect to the childish insults about Greeks, I am equally upset at the very insulting remarks you have made toward the US.
I understand your commentary may have been motivated by anger toward brettgoodrich, but your statements in no way reflect reality. Most Americans are quite well educated. In general, there is no validity in stereotypes, which are bred from ignorance and perpetuated by hatred.
I would also like to thank you for your many insightful comments regarding chess. It is a pity that some individuals distract us from the principal subject we all came to discuss.
I,ve encountered the variation before, but for me, after 5...exd4 6.Nxd4 - Nxd4 7. Qxd4 it appears that white has a pretty wicked attack going on. That is according to the "army of hopefuls" opinon
Dear mxiangqi,
there is no doubt that, thanks to globalization, everyone in the globe has gained the right to be a moron.
Yet, the percentage of morons in chess.com (as well as other sites) who are residents of a very specific country is rather frightening.
Regards.
The moron has spoken.
Thank you for the link, Bresando.
Godena is definitely an enigma. He ALWAYS, invariably, plays the same openings (Sicilian c3 and Italian/2knights as white, e5 and traditional slav as Black), he never, ever cared to play something else, or surprise someone. His knowledge in that openings (the c3 sicilian in particular) is one of the greatest in the world, his positional understanding is superb, his technique next to flawless. So- why he is devoting so much time in the opening, when he faces positions he has probably played hundreds of times before? This is quite a mystery...
Yes, the surprising thing is that he often stops thinking for 20 minutes at move 8 or so, then you look at a database and you find that he already had the very same position 8 times in previous games.
Right now, he used 7 minutes on move 2...
Is that really your best excuse?
Ivanchuk has the same issue.
Thank you for the link, Bresando.
Godena is definitely an enigma. He ALWAYS, invariably, plays the same openings (Sicilian c3 and Italian/2knights as white, e5 and traditional slav as Black), he never, ever cared to play something else, or surprise someone. His knowledge in that openings (the c3 sicilian in particular) is one of the greatest in the world, his positional understanding is superb, his technique next to flawless. So- why he is devoting so much time in the opening, when he faces positions he has probably played hundreds of times before? This is quite a mystery...
No, it's not. The fact he has remained a 2500+ is not a mystery at all.
I suspect he will end his career with an even lower rating of 2400+ if he's lucky.
He has a nice opening database, but he sucks at both playing the middlegame and endgame.
That's where it counts.
Although not all of them have big flappy ears.
Uh-oh (somebody's been to a seminar).
Players have certain skill sets and strengths that hold them back.
Ivanchuk has been up and down the rating list his whole career. He is a genius but his nerves get to him at times and he collapses. he will never be worldchampion. He cannt deal with the stress of a match and he has aluded to this in interviews but in tournaments if he is on his game.... look out!
There is no such thing as an average GM. Average exceptional player in the top .1 percent of players in the world. yep totally normal.
his limitations are not knowledge or skills but personal. There have been great players though out history that have been held back by a personal flaw.
The analogy with ESPN was correct though. The commentators often rely on ex-pro coaches or atheletes to make judgements about situations. The problem with amateurs doing so on specifics is absurd. In general maybe but unless your ready to back up a statement with concrete facts and proof then a better response might be: If player X results are poor after having such an detailed understanding of the opening I wonder why his results are not better. but making a declaration that aludes to something like your knowledge is greater or equal to the person in question is just absurd.
Did you know that in my country "Greek" is a synonym for anal sex? True story.
My impression was that in your country you have no synonyms, as you can barely spell. Apologies.
And yes, Michele Godena is a weak player, who has no luck against strong opposition. How true.
Now, go on with your stupidity exchibition. It's no fun, but we cannot do anything to cure that.
Wow, he defeated Polgar on a bad day. How impressive!
The same can be said for hundreds of other amateurs.
Polgar did not play like a 2700 FIDE player here.
Just because he won a blunder-filled game from a superior player means nothing.
Apparently he knows how to catch players in their "bad day", though: He has won against Bologan, Veskovi, Naiditch, Ivanisevic, Timman, Smirin, Motylev, has drawn against Radjabov, Movsesian, Almasi, Jobava, Kamsky... and so it goes. He has been Italy's #1 for more than 15 years, and he is still strong enough to beat 100 Yeserlovs in a simul without conceding a single draw.
How did you come to the verdict Polgar played badly? As far as I'm concerned, your understanding about chess comes nowhere close to judging a grandmasters play.
Now please, here is a tip for you: The less you open your mouth, the less of a probability to talk bullshit.
It's the general consensus by the internet and by the fact Polgar has wiped the floor with players like Kasparov.
Here's a tip: stop spreading BS.
The guy hasn't won against a GM for a long time.
Most of his games consist against playing 2300-2400+ opponents who he barely manages to draw against.
The fact he has had such a low rank and had done such a bad job getting better proves my theory.
Italy must suck when it comes to chess to produce a player who at best has had a 2561 FIDE rating.
He might have a chance against some of his local club players, but he might as well stay in Italy with that sucky performance.
Another one of Michele Godena's genius games against a 2300: