Absolutely agree with you Che, thanks for your message.
On Mar 19, 2021, at 11:03 PM, blindadrenaline@xxxxxxxxx wrote:
Well Chris, you may not find it of much value, but I can tell you that Tyson
and others' input has been of great value to me as a blind chess player
trying to learn the ropes.
I seriously doubt you were born with the ability to play perfect chess and I
have no doubt you needed some help along the way yourself, but maybe you've
lost sight of that fact with the clouds of greatness obscuring your view.
Frankly, I find your post arrogant and demeaning both to myself, George, and
to Tyson.
I have no doubt that Tyson could offer advice and insight to much more
advanced players than myself, but in the relatively short amount of time I
have been on this list I've seen exactly zero help from you to anyone outside
of posting one game and letting us know you had submitted a ton of your games
to some kind of publisher.
Meanwhile, Tyson has taken his own time with no renumeration to offer comment
and encouragement to the little guys on the list.
Maybe I misunderstand the reason for this list existing in the first place.
If I don't belong here, and instead somehow have landed on a list designed
for advanced blind chess players to preach from mount pious to the chess
dummies amongst us without offering a single iota of encouragement or helpful
advice, my heartfelt apologies.
All sarcasm aside, sorry to the moderators if my post seems harsh, but Chris'
post was incredibly insulting, and I am confident in my belief that I speak
for many others that will not chime in and offer their opinions on the
matter, because they are far more polite than myself.
If I am in the wrong place, and there is another list designed for all chess
players large and small, I'd appreciate it if someone could point me in that
direction.
By the way, speaking of blunders, here is a free tip to you Chris, you might
want to get someone to check your posts for grammatical errors next time.
Take care all,
Che
-----Original Message-----
From: usbca_chess-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <usbca_chess-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On
Behalf Of Chris Ross
Sent: Friday, March 19, 2021 7:44 PM
To: usbca_chess@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [usbca_chess] Re: Suggestions for basic openings as black
All,
We're getting a huge amount of traffic from Jorge and Che as of late, with
little impact. We need to consider that extensive reflection results in
constructive improvement. I'm of the belief that showing games of extensive
blunders is of little worth. We have to analyse games are of worth and value
of contemplation.
Games against chess engines, such as shredder or even Stockfish on Lichess
are of little worth. They tell us little and are of no value in their
construction. We need to be more critical and reflective on how we view such
"tools". Notice, I refer to them as "tools" and not elements to enhance our
chess.
I believe that all correspondence on this list needs to adopt more
intellectually more active approaches to tackle their chessic difficulties
and approaches. Tyson has the expertise to advise on beginner chess, so I
defer to him to relate to those cases, but in my untrained opinion, the
direct of support and focus is misguided and not relevant to the aspect of
betterment and improvement.
Showing us a game with multiple blunders is of little value.
Cheers,
Chris
-----Original Message-----
From: usbca_chess-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:usbca_chess-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of ;
blindadrenaline@xxxxxxxxx
Sent: 19 March 2021 21:30
To: usbca_chess@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [usbca_chess] Re: Suggestions for basic openings as black
Thanks George and Tyson,
George, I have looked at the Sicilian, but think from what I can tell it
needs to be studied a good bit to avoid slipping into the banana pit, but I
agree it is a good defense, many years of great players using it proves that
point I suppose.
Tyson, I will check out what you referred to, thanks for that, haven't ran
across a reference to the hippopotamus as yet, but that is like saying Lewis
and Clark hadn't run into any oceans the first three days of their journey.
As far as the Swiss Army knife, it can do a lot of things, but sure is hard
to do any fatal damage to your opponents with it, heh.
Have a good weekend out there all,
Che
-----Original Message-----
From: usbca_chess-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <usbca_chess-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On
Behalf Of mordue andrew (Redacted sender "tyson.mordue" for DMARC)
Sent: Friday, March 19, 2021 1:20 PM
To: usbca_chess@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [usbca_chess] Re: Suggestions for basic openings as black
Hello Che et al,
That's an interesting analogy.: the 'Swiss Army knife of Black responses'. If
you mean something that you can play against anything then it has to be one
of the hypermodern defences with 1...g7-g6 or 1...b7-b6. The point of playing
these is that you concede the centre to White and hope to counterattack
later, but you run the risk of getting pushed off the board early on by a
broad White centre.
1...b7-b6 is called the Queen's Fianchetto Defence, for obvious reasons, and
is also known as Owen's Defence. This was popularised by some English players
in the 1970s and 1980s.
1...g7-g6 2 e2-e4 Bf8-g7 is known by various names such as The Modern, Pirc,
Ufimtsev, and Robatsch (who was an Austrian GM and that's next door to
Switzerland!) but note that White could play 3 c2-c4 which brings you into
King's Indian territory.
The only other really universal opening is The Hippopotamus. Black intends a
formation that basically goes in any order you like but with ...g7-g6,
...Bf8-g7, ...b7-b6, ...Bc8-b7, ...e7-e6, ...Ng8-e7, ...d7-d6, ....Nd7,
...a7-a6, and ...h7-h6, then go for ...c7-c5 or f7-f5 as appropriate.
Castling is left late and appropriate to circumstances. However, it can
require very subtle and flexible handling in the early middle-game.
I'm not actually recommending anything because openings are a very
complicated subject. Don't be surprised if experiments get crushed and
remember that main lines are there for a reason. They've been established
after decades of tournament and match play.
Hope this helps.
Tyson
On 19 March 2021 at 17:42 blindadrenaline@xxxxxxxxx wrote:
Hey all,
I have been going over a couple of openings for white, but was wondering if
anyone might suggest one or two for playing black as a beginner chess player.
I totally realize the responses depends on the openings white goes with, but
hoping to find something like a swiss army knife of black responses, where I
can improv responses without getting into too much trouble early on.
Jim was kind enough to suggest and show me the Colle system for a general
purpose white opening, and Tyson and others recommended the London system as
well, both of which are great.
If I am missing the boat here, and need to be asking different questions
about how to play black, I am all ears.
Thanks much all,
Che
