What if you saw more than the board?

Sometimes life isn't fair, and that sucks... just be careful about imagining what others are thinking, there's no way to know... and if they're always thinking something against you, that's unrealistic. It's comforting, in a way, that most people don't think about you at all.

As for the chess preparation, it may be shady, but it's not uncommon for coaches to prep their students right before the round like that. People even do that themselves. I had a guy come up to me and say "oh, I thought we would be paired this round" and we started talking. Apparently a few weeks ago he had been watching what I played, and had something prepared for it. Some people watch prospective opponents and pull out their laptops to reference databases to prep just minutes before. That's just something some people do.

You can ask the retired violin teacher yourself: her name is Alice Johsnon in Lincoln, NE... although I believe she is in her late 80's or early 90's now and bedridden and close to the end (the last I heard)  ... I asked my own university professor about her and he tried to play it off with "she's old, maybe she should not have been playing at all"

You can ask the Home-ec teacher yourself: Her name is Mrs. Kelley Or Kelly from Lakeview Middle School in Parkville, MO. Although I'm quite sure she's retired now. And yes we preheated the oven, and yes we did it right- like I said I remembered that it happened to us in 6th grade and was prepared for it in 8th grade... you've all seen Star Trek? You know of the Kobayashi Maru test for captains? You fail the test no matter what... my claims are not unheard of in history.

You can also talk to the TD of the local KC chess club. His name is Kenneth Fee. He is very well respected in KC, has many many students, and has even coached a national champion. His club used to be in Liberty, MO, a NE suburb of KC. Feel free to investigate.

And yes, I've done all those things... I left the club and stopped playing OTB, go check my name NICHOLAS SHANNON from Missouri in the USCF site and you'll see a long absense of several years and then a recent tournament in '13 or so (I wanted to see if there was still shenanigans, and this time there was, I let some HS and MS kids win in OTB games, or I was made to let them win)

I also left school because I sensed that some people were "altering my reality" in strange ways, and I got into terrible finacail trouble because of it... I did however finish my bachelor's degree, but am still unable to overcome the financial debt I've suffered while dealing with these strange occurances.

Now, every time I play chess here on chess.com weird things happen again... everyone assumes I'm just like all the other whiners who say, no, no, no this guy did this or that, and I should study more tactics and read more books and watch more GM games... it's the same old story.

Damn.  Your right.  Nick could sue chess.com for discrimination and emotional distress!  :O

Free liftime membership!

yes, I wasn't SUPER upset about the TD giving insider info, I was new to USCF competition and didn't know the etiquettes... but he was the TD and I was disgruntled...

I just wanted to play and slowly improve.

Well there are plenty of examples throughout ones life right. Remember the teachers pet ? They could get away with almost anything. On the other hand if the teacher didn't like you for whatever reason, it was going to be a bad year in that class.

It carries over to work place environments as well. Life is not fair, no one ever said it would be easy, if they did they were lying to you.

There is a supernatural aspect to our existance. I am a christian. I won't preach here, there are things that most people either deny or don't believe, however, that does not make it not true.

Many people prefer not to talk about their mortality. I am fine with that, they are all searching for something still, and they feel empty, and never satisfied. Money, doesn't solve that problem either, nor love. You can still feel as if something is missing. Thats because there is.

I have terrible dreams, that many times come true. People don't want to know, they are horrible, one wonders if its a blessing or a curse. The reality is our solar system is an atom, we are all subatomic particles, whizzing around in a giant body, that grows, just like we do.

There is far more we don't know then what we do, or believe we know.

That should be a sobbering fact for some.

in all seriousness Nicholas.

you need help.  You're "altering reality" is an issue you NEED to address if you are going to be a happy and healthy person in this world.  all these things Might be unfair, but unfair things happen- and you need to find someone who can help you understand and deal with them effectively.

I'm not a doctor, not am I a moderator, a gm, a zealot; but I know you need some mental help.  whats going on is that your feelings are out of whack, and the altered reality that you talking about is your own altered reality.

serious nick.  you really do need some help.  I'm guessing that you've encountered barriors and problems in your employment and issues with your loved ones- if this is true (as I suspect) this is all clues that you need some help and do have an altered reality issue.

OK here's a different one from my facebook.

One day preparing for a chess tournament by reading books and such I came across an opening that was complicated and I didn't understand. It was unusual, but I've only got so much time, so I'll have to skip it. There are over 300,000,000 posibile opening positions in a game of chess after the first 4 moves... It just so happened that my next opponent in the next tournament, played that exact opening I knew that I did not understand... literally a 1 in 300,000,000 chance. It could not have been a coincidence.

To add more strangeness that opponents' name was NICHOLAS MANLEY ... "nicholas Manley" I'm not making it up- here is the link to the tournament scoretable http://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?200609178211.0-12877372

Somehow some force of the universe knew the exact 1/300,000,000 opening line I knew I had trouble with, created a person named "Nicholas Manley" (at the time I was not working out and eating unhealthy and being physically lazy because I had left my state champion wrestling roots to go join the world of classical musicians)

.... in no way does this seem weird to anyone? I went into hiding because unbelievable randomly weird things like this will not stop happening.

Really? I got fat because I spent all day every day in rehearsals and started to hang out with the LGBT community and then my opponent's name was Nicholas "Manley" ... and on top of that the played the exact opening line that I had only 1 week prior looked at, new that I didn't understand, and discarded.

This isn't a case of "altered reality" or of "manufactured reality" ?? Or at least a weird coincidence?

You sound a lot like one of my family members who struggles with anxiety and paranoia. He's a really smart and kind person, but a smile from a stranger becomes a malicious attempt to make him feel bad about something he's done in the past, and all acquaintances are plotting one thing or another against him. Leaves blow onto his lawn and his neighbor did it on purpose, that sort of thing. IMO that's no way to have to live your life. Is there someone you can talk to like a family member? Would you be willing to try an evaluation by a mental health professional?

Well, hopefully I'm just imagining it. I wish you the best.

Ok Nick.  

I will try and help you but you have to answer my question and the answer can't be that you don't know.

If you had to guess, which one of the three possible reasons, in your opinion, is the cause of your phenomenon

a) A divine conspiracy by 'God' or the 'universe' challenging you.

b) An elaborate conspiracy involving human behaviour financed in secret by government agencies testing to see how various people (including you) cope under stressful/frustrating conditions.

c) All big one unfortunate coincidence.  But maybe you are exaggerating a bit.

Which one?

but can you Logically explain HOW for example a random game the next day has an opponent named Nicholas playing an opening you looked at...

what are you suggesting- what is the logical explanation?  my explanation is that it is, yes a coincidence.

BTW, its dishonest to say that there is billions of openings of chess, yes. oc!

but most of them are crap and aren't played.  if its just 4 moves deep- there's a pretty small list of openings that are considered sound choices.  they are playing Much, much more  often that other openings.

Well, you don't play random moves in the opening... I know this because you just told me you were preparing an opening. So already the 300,000,000 is cut way down. Maybe only a few 1000 or 100.

The defense you were looking at was also in that book / database. So your opponent's choice for that defense was also not random... it was (apparently) one of the main options. So from a few 1000 or 100 maybe we're down to 1 in 20 or something. If it was a main line, maybe 1 in 5.

@thegreatpatzer

If he has a mental condition, then he is not going to be able to justify his assumtions by logic as they did not arrive by logic.

Nick, if a building falls, it could be because of numerous reasons. All of them natural, poor workmanship, bad materials, etc, etc. Weird things happen, most are natural, some or coincidences. Don't blow it out of porportions.

However perhaps someone is trying to get your attention. ( like the man upstairs) Fear not. Fear is the great mind killer.(Dune) You have nothing to be afraid of. However it is good to reflect on the choices of your life, and perhaps you should change some of them.

All we can do is try to better ourselves. That should always be ones personal goal correct ?

the idea is , if logic can't explain what is going on - perhaps he will seek help rather than talk to all the trolls on cc.

agree, that it is probably a losing strategy.

but what else to say?  now that I know what is going on, I feel less like making jokes about it.

the "conspiracy" thread would be so much more fun if it were started by a troll, and not someone who actually believes it

I have already answered. In some cases, purely malicious intentions by people I don't consider to be of a very high quality.

In other cases, some strange cosmic connection that I can't see, or am purposefully kept in the dark on.

Finally in some case, genuine bad luck.

I'm off to go jogging in the gym... yes the PLATTE COUNTY COMMUNITY CENTER SOUTH YMCA gym where just yesterday someone stole both my pairs of goggles from my gym bag while I was jogging. I reported the theft to the staff, and was given consolitory "that's aweful" and "too bad" statements. My wallet was not taken, the cash in it, my phone, or car keys... just the swimming goggles.. and the backup pair I kept in case I lost or broke the original pair.

Once again even this is part of a conspiracy because some people are mad that I'm training for a triathalon and using the swimming pool instead of working in the only job they would hire me at without having to resort to nepotism or giving in to the very communities I am accusing of malicious actions against me: a minimum wage job that pays $7.50 an hour at Labor Ready staffing agency doing remedial work that doesn't even need to be done and is simply a fake job meant to exist as a starting point for 1. retards 2. severelly incapable losers 3. ex-criminals 4. current criminals

I can only hope that someone does not steal my chevy blazer while I'm on the treadmill jogging, but that is probably too much to ask.

[COMMENT DELETED] -oops I double posted

Eh, the levity at the end there sort of broke the mood and seemed out of place.

Ideally you can talk about these things to someone you know in person. If that's not possible and you're reaching out online, my suggestion is to schedule an appointment with a psychologist.

yes, i understand the theory of openings, I was explaining that on facebook to an audience that is unfamiliar with the concept of chess openings or that people even "study openings"... Our line was somewhere in the 7-10 deep range I think... I was unfamiliar and if I remember correctly it was a line in the Ruy Lopez where you're supposed to play something a certain way, but I was not understanding why at the time.

It was one line out of ... what hundreds in the Ruy? ... and the Ruy is one out of what hundreds or thousands in the E4 e5 genre ... and one of hundreds and branching out possibly millions in the e4 genre as a whole...

still a very strange coincidence, paired with the coincidence of his name being what it was makes it at least "odd" or "plausible" as they say in mythbusters

Nick, you may need professional help, I don't know all there is to know about you. Things I would need to know to even begin. I would suggest a Dr. IF you have been sleeping with people, and please don't answer here.

Certain untreated stds can cause similar behavior patterns. Nick, it will also eventually kill you. Prolonged Mercury vapors, and different types of drugs as well. You need a Dr to check you out man.

Maybe I am seeking help in some way by talking to all of you.

Everyone I have talked to in person in my 'real life' has said 1. "let it go" 2. "it's just a coincidence" 3. "just play the game no matter how it is being altered" 4."leave me alone" 5."no, that's not what I said I said 'something different that is not what was actually said in the incident' " 6. "it's not happening the way you think it is" 7. "no those things do not have a karmic connection" 8. "and all of this prevents you from working?" 9. or simply stood there with their mouth agape

one psycologist actually hinted that he knew what I was talking about, without me even telling him I play chess for fun he says "ya... it's like you're playing chess and someone simply plucks a piece off the board and expects you to play as if nothing happened"

he nailed it... he didn't explain it, didn't offer help, didn't offer advice, just hinted he knew what was up and left it at that... oh, and charged a bunch of money.

srsly I'm off to the gym, I do feel better after babbling with ya'll