Idiot's Guide to Annotating Games

Idiot's Guide to Annotating Games

Only Chess

Chess Librarian

The Stacks

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11 Mar 10
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Hi folks,

Here's some valuable phrases for annotating games for publication. They are time-tested, and have been successfully used over and over. And over. And over.

1. "Insipid."

2. "Like lightning from a clear blue sky."

3. "Wrong rook."

4. "Missing White's reply."

5. "Missing Black's reply."

and my new favorite:

6. "Shades of Penrose-Tal". (With no disrespect meant for the fabulous original).

Feel free to add as appropriate!

Paul Leggett
Mighty Morphy Power Ranger

p

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11 Mar 10

Not quite on topic, but Greenpawn's "Don't be a Lipscheutz" has stayed with me for years. 🙂

e4

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11 Mar 10

"Don't be a Lipscheutz" Master Chess.

If there was one thing I would actually change from that section it may be that.

I give a couple of Lipscheutz games where he blows won postion with
the same theme.

What an awful thing to say about a good chess player.
I was so cocky and crude back then. However it appears to have stuck so if
players have learned from their blown losses then so be it.

Mind you I'm not looking forward to meeting Lipscheutz once inside the pearly gates
him holding my book and calling me across.

"I've been wating for you....."

Think I'll put one of his good wins on The Corner. It might save me from
getting a harp smashed over my head.

It's not only the same notes you see, mind you some of the
standard, "White is better, Black is better" are hard to avoid without having
your reader clambering for a dictionary at every note.

It's the same old games you see time and time again.

Well read players will know these game.

Zugswang, The Double Bishop Sacrifice, Amos Burn and his pipe,
Gold Coins, A Famous Exchange Lopez, The Pearl....
The Evergreen and Immortal, The 5 Queens game (which never happened)

The Torre Windmill game.

Wiki has a good example but it mentions Torre (see below)

Morphy at the Opera (great game - Mammoth Chess has it 8 times) 😉

Game of the Century - which the player himself deemed not good enough
for his own collection of games.

And Karpov's 24.Nb1 v Spassky, Leningrad 1974. must be the most often
produced diagram in the history of chess.

I have one of rant's about it here.

http://www.chessedinburgh.co.uk/chandlerarticle.php?ChandID=58

The Windmill.



And when a Knight moves White will win it. 1-0.

S
Caninus Interruptus

2014.05.01

Joined
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11 Mar 10

Originally posted by greenpawn34
"Don't be a Lipscheutz" Master Chess.

If there was one thing I would actually change from that section it may be that.

I give a couple of Lipscheutz games where he blows won postion with
the same theme.

What an awful thing to say about a good chess player.
I was so cocky and crude back then. However it appears to have stuck so if
players ...[text shortened]... 21. Rg7+ Kh8 22. Kxa1[/pgn]

And when a Knight moves White will win it. 1-0.
That's very nice, but wouldn't 1.Rh8# be a slightly faster way to win? 😵

M

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11 Mar 10

Originally posted by SwissGambit
That's very nice, but wouldn't 1.Rh8# be a slightly faster way to win? 😵
The 'declined windmill' variation 🙄

M

Joined
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11 Mar 10

Originally posted by SwissGambit
That's very nice, but wouldn't 1.Rh8# be a slightly faster way to win? 😵
ahaha nice

Chess Librarian

The Stacks

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11 Mar 10

Originally posted by SwissGambit
That's very nice, but wouldn't 1.Rh8# be a slightly faster way to win? 😵
It's just a shame that so many players nowadays want to end the game in mate, when there's so much play still left in the position...

New Braunfels, Texas

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11 Mar 10

Originally posted by greenpawn34

And when a Knight moves White will win it. 1-0.
I must be missing something? Kt(f8)xR?

e4

Joined
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11 Mar 10

Ha Ha! 🙂

I should have explained the postion actually starts like this.



With Black in check. But of course.......

RHP does not allow Black to go first in the PGN Moving THingy Thing.

...so had to toggle the postion with White to Play.
So could only place the Rook on h7.

I cannot see the Nf8xR lmove Monty mentioned.

p

Joined
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11 Mar 10

"RHP does not allow Black to go first in the PGN Moving THingy Thing"

Why not just reverse the colors?

e4

Joined
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11 Mar 10

Simply enough with a position like this.
Gets silly when trying to show something from an actual game with Bllack to play.

You have to show the last White move - you cannot do a total reverse
as fen always has White playing up the board.

It just takes one line of code to fix. We were promised it would get fixed
10 months ago. It's now a running joke.

S
Caninus Interruptus

2014.05.01

Joined
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Moves
92274
11 Mar 10

Originally posted by greenpawn34
"Don't be a Lipscheutz" Master Chess.

If there was one thing I would actually change from that section it may be that.

I give a couple of Lipscheutz games where he blows won postion with
the same theme.

What an awful thing to say about a good chess player.
I was so cocky and crude back then. However it appears to have stuck so if
players ...[text shortened]... 21. Rg7+ Kh8 22. Kxa1[/pgn]

And when a Knight moves White will win it. 1-0.



Fixed.

This post is brought to you by the Problemists' Club ® (Club 164), patching up compositions since 2008.

S
Caninus Interruptus

2014.05.01

Joined
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Moves
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11 Mar 10

Originally posted by MontyMoose
I must be missing something? Kt(f8)xR?
GP's comment applies to the end position:



Black must move a Knight, and white will win it with a discovered check.

e4

Joined
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11 Mar 10

"...patching up compositions."

Proof it. 🙂

S
Caninus Interruptus

2014.05.01

Joined
11 Apr 07
Moves
92274
11 Mar 10

Originally posted by greenpawn34
"...patching up compositions."

Proof it. 🙂
Hmm. Position looks legal to me...

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