User Profile: hms123

hms123
Member since Dec-13-07

Welcome, all! This is the place for frivolous commentary, serious commentary, and cogent discussion.
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My favorite wines:
Matted Elk (red), March 2012
Matted Elk (red), April 2012
Matted Elk (red), May 2012
Matted Elk (red), June 2012 (limited bottling, no longer available)
Matted Elk (red), July 2012
I am looking forward to the release of the August 2012 vintage.
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Work, the what's-its-name of the thingummy and the thing-um-a-bob of the what d'you-call-it. (P. G. Wodehouse)
You have to bring some funk to get some. You can't just walk in a place and expect to get some funk. If you ain't bring no funk, then you can't get no funk..Another thing is, you can't fake the funk or your nose will grow. (Bootsy Collins)
If a woman has to choose between catching a fly ball and saving an infant's life, she will choose to save the infant's life without even considering if there is a man on base. (Dave Barry)
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Here's an article that I wrote:
<Chess Life, August, 2011, <<Brave New World: Human Intuition and Computer-assisted Chess>>, see pages 32-35>
http://content.yudu.com/A1t744/Ches...
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These are links that I find useful:
1. <<<New Search Feature instructions>>> chessgames.com chessforum
2. <<<Wiki info on FEN notation>>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forsyt...
3. <<<Fen Help>>> FEN Help Page
4. <<<FEN Reverser>>> http://www.zbestvalue.com/ChessFENR...
5. <<<Zip File Archive>>> Zipfile Archive
6. <<Jan van Reek's site:>> http://www.endgame.nl/
7. <<ICCF Archives:>> http://www.iccf.com
8. <<iPad shortcuts:>> hms123 chessforum
9. <<pgn4web quickstart:>> Pgn4web Quickstart
10. <<change password:>> http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chan...
11. <<Internet Archives WayBackMachine:>> http://wayback.archive.org/web/
12. <<Avatar sizer>> http://www.shrinkpictures.com/creat...
13. <<K+B+N vs K:>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWZ7...
14. <<Collection to check out:>> Game Collection: They were surprised
15. <<Puzzles:>> http://www.wtharvey.com/
16. <<kingscrusher's video spreadsheet>> https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...
17. <<chess.ok online opening book:>> http://chessok.com/?page_id=352
18. <<PGN reader:>> http://www.caissa.com/chess-tools/p...
19. <<Time zones:>> http://24timezones.com/
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<<<Caissar Awards>>>
Thanks to User: wannabe for running the contest, and to everyone who voted for me or for any of the other fine nominees.
<<2008 Caissar Award winner for <most helpful>. (shared with User: brankat)>>
<<2009 Caissar Award winner for <most constructive kibitzer>.>>
<<2011 Caissar Award winner for <most helpful>.>>
<<2012 Caissar Award winner for <most helpful>.>>
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For your amusement:
1. <<My Favorite Player <Lauren S Hwang and her best gameL S Hwang vs H Kim, 2005>>>

2. <<My favorite annotated game: <Nimzowitsch vs Systemsson, 1927

>> Click here to see hms123's game collections.

   Current net-worth: -104 chessbucks
[what is this?]

   hms123 has kibitzed 11688 times to chessgames [more...]

   May-19-13 Team White vs Team Black, 2013
   May-19-13 hms123 chessforum

hms123: <crawfb5> <And with enough beers it's trash talk with a couple of moves thrown in once and a while?> Exactly right.

   May-18-13 N Grandadam vs M Parligras, 2012

hms123: <Xeroxx> Easy. You just have to score three <Eve Norms>.

   May-18-13 Domdaniel chessforum

...

   May-16-13 Nakamura vs S Benen, 2003

hms123: <Fiona Macleod> He was only 15 at the time.

   May-13-13 Louis F Stumpers

hms123: You can try here (no solution is given): http://www.smart-kit.com/games/game2/

   May-12-13 Annie K. chessforum

hms123: <Annie> Yes, you were pretty far ahead for most of the game.

   May-10-13 scormus chessforum

hms123: <morfishine> Anything for a friend. ;-)

   May-10-13 Karjakin vs Wang Hao, 2013

hms123: <chessdgc2> If Black takes e.p., then Rf1 wins the bishop.

   May-07-13 chessgames.com chessforum

hms123: <WannaBe> Isn't there some old <Wabbit> saying about honey and vinegar and catching flies? If not, there should be.

indicates a reply to the comment.

Sprezzatura spoken here

< Earlier Kibitzing · PAGE 437 OF 437 · Later Kibitzing>
Apr-30-13		playground player: <hms123> I received my quarterly "sales" statement yesterday. I wonder if Sonny Boy is selling more books than I am.

Apr-30-13		benjinathan: good choice on the Rinus guys. P.P. you haven't lived until you have received a $12 royalty cheque like I have.

Apr-30-13		hms123: <benjinathan> Check out my post at <pgp's> place: playground player chessforum I would be happy with $12 at this point.

Apr-30-13		benjinathan: Ha! At least my publisher writes cheques for less than ten dollars- I know, because I have seen one. One of the things in my father's estate was a stock in a low fee brokerage account with a total value of $4. So I called them up and they told me about the reams of paperwork I would have to do to get the $4 out (assuming I could find a buyer of course). I decided it was not worth it and for 6 years I have been getting statements from the broker in the mail. At one point I offered to just give them the money, but no go. Maybe in ten years the company will turn out to be google...

May-01-13		benjinathan: Ha again! I looked for my book on amazon and you could buy a whole year's production of matted Elk for the cost of the first edition: http://www.amazon.ca/Collective-Agr... What a laugh. I think I will have to go steal the one I gave to my mother.

May-01-13		playground player: <benjinathan> Many years ago, during a long spell of unemployment, I went to withdraw the last $5 out of my bank account and was told that the bank had taken my last $5 as some kind of penalty for not putting more money in. I convinced them to give me the money back by threatening to stand in the middle of the lobby and tell all the customers, as loud as I could, how the bank just took a poor devil's last $5. All of which just goes to show that even bankers have more active consciences than publishers. But then the publisher is usually in some inaccessible office in New York and can't be shamed to his face. The upside of being published by a worldwide Christian ministry is that they probably won't play any of the cheap and sleazy tricks on their authors that are so often played by Manhattan publishers. The downside is that they have no idea how to promote their product. Not even a clue.

May-01-13		OhioChessFan: <The downside is that they have no idea how to promote their product. > I knew an author 20 years ago who wrote good stuff and had the same problem.

May-03-13		crawfb5: I just got a letter informing me a credit of $0.25 has been applied to one of my various retirement funds. I have 60 days to inform them, in writing, of any inaccuracies.

May-03-13		crawfb5: Just to show that amateur correspondence players are not blunder-free, I had two opponents walk into mates within the last few days: crawfb5-NN, White to move click for larger view <11...f6 was a mistake.> 12. Qh5+ g6 13. Nxg6 Nxg6 14. Qxg6+ Kd7 15. O-O-O Kc7 16. Bxd5 cxd5 17. Bf4 Bd7 18. Bxd6+ Kxd6 19. Qg3+ Kc6 20. Qc3+ click for larger view 20...Kd6?? 21. Qc5# NN-crawfb5, Black to move click for larger view 19...d4 <Ties up his queenside, but he misses the main threat.> 20. Ba3? <20. Kh2 followed by Rg1 was essential, even though he's still probably lost.> 20...Qd5 21. Nb2? <Better a quick death than a slow one?> 21...Qg2# Which goes to show it's not how much time you take between moves, but how much time you take on the moves themselves.

May-03-13		hms123: <crawfb5> Those are astounding mates for correspondence play. You'd think people would at least examine every check that the opponent could play.

May-04-13		SwitchingQuylthulg: <hms> Players like that wouldn't get these positions to begin with :)

May-04-13		hms123: <Switch> Excellent point! What was I thinking?

May-09-13		jessicafischerqueen: <H> More bad news! There's libel afoot in <Boomie's> forum again. I did my best to uphold your august legal reputation, but it's tough sledding against some of the more pernicious, not to mention silly, rumors being spread by a few blackguards.

May-10-13		hms123: <Jess> <<hms123> hasn't actually appeared before the bar since he was banned last year for passing out on one after a few dozen glasses of tasty "Matted Elk" wine.> The truth is an absolute defense against libel.

May-11-13		playground player: <hms123> Actually, according to a recent Canadian Supreme Court ruling, truth is no defense against libel or "hate speech" charges.

May-11-13		hms123: <pgp> I will have to watch what I say the next time I am in Quebec. Maybe I can use the <bad French that no one can understand> defense.

May-12-13		playground player: <hms123> You're an American citizen; so if you insist on telling the truth, maybe they'd settle for deporting you.

May-18-13		playground player: <hms123> Have you ever read anything by Margaret Millar, Ross McDonald's wife? I've just read her <Stranger in My Grave>, and it's about as noir as a novel gets--maybe a little too much so, for me. I suppose you could call it a penetrating look into the outworkings of sin in human life--especially the lives of the next generation. Not for the faint-hearted.

May-18-13		hms123: <pgp> I have, of course, read all of Ross McDonald's work, but didn't know about <Millar>. She will go to the top of my list immediately. I just finished an excellent (if somewhat worldly--heh) YA book by John Green. The title is <Paper Towns>. I also just read his <An Abundance of Katherines>, which was also quite good. Next up, his <Looking for Alaska>. I also seem to be in the middle of Walter Mosley's <Little Green>. The protagonist is <Easy Rawlins>--Mosley's main series lead. I am enjoying it so far. The book in the series that I really liked was titled <Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned>. You might give it a try along with some of Mosley's early book starring Rawlins.

May-19-13		crawfb5: When one wheel falls off, it is often followed by the others. The latest in my recent run of cooperative CC opponents just resigned after this: crawfb5-NN, Black to move click for larger view He's got to give up another pawn, although he has reasonable prospects for picking up my loose one on e5. Question is, which is the worst pawn to give up? 28...Ba8?? 29. Nxe6 I guess he was looking at the pawns and not the fork. It only goes downhill from here. He decides to pick up a pawn if he's to lose the exchange, but doesn't see how that will make it worse. 29...Rxf3 30. gxf3 Rxf3 31. Nxg5 hxg5 32. Rd8+ 1-0 click for larger view With the Bishop gone, he no longer controls d8. After 32...Rf8 33. Rxf8+ Kxf8, the newly-opened h-file allows 34. Rh8+ None of this seemed particularly difficult to see, but I guess if you don't spend enough time on the actual moves this is what can happen. Doesn't this make you want to take up CC? :-)

May-19-13		hms123: <crawfb5> <Doesn't this make you want to take up CC?> Only if I can play like you do and not like some of your opponents. What kind of ratings do these justifiably NN's have?

May-19-13		hms123: <crawfb5> I would really like to sit down once or twice a week with a friend and a couple of beers and play some 10 0 games with trash talk allowed.

May-19-13		crawfb5: <H> The earlier mates were against 2094 and 2000, the fork and skewer was against 2049, all at ChessWorld. I'm currently at 2273 there. For a rough OTB estimate, I'd deduct at least 200 points, maybe more. My OTB peak was about 2065 back in the day. I'm at 2264 at QueenAlice, although other sites are apparently scaled differently. From what I see of GameKnot, their ratings seem lower than other sites. They're generally only good for within-site comparisons anyway. And with enough beers it's trash talk with a couple of moves thrown in once and a while?

May-19-13		playground player: <hms123> As a connoisseur (not an easy word to spell!) of YA fiction, I recommend my own books to you--unless you've already sampled them and didn't like them. I've been very mildly and gently criticized for writing what may be too advanced material for most YA readers. My defense is, "There are four books in the series, with No. 5 due any day now, and No. 6 waiting in the wings. If the reader is 11 years old when he reads <Bell Mountain>, and reads a book a year, he'll be 16 when he reads <The Fugitive Prince.> The books are written to sort of grow along with the reader." You and I are proof positive that no one's too grown-up to enjoy good YA fiction. I'll take it over Serious Mainstream Krapola any day of the week.

May-19-13		hms123: <crawfb5> <And with enough beers it's trash talk with a couple of moves thrown in once and a while?> Exactly right.

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