connoisseur series500

What would have happened if Fischer had grown up in a small Midwestern town? He likely wouldn't have had the opportunity to develop his genius as fast. He still would have achieved great things, but it would have taken longer.

My only team is the NE Patriots, and the NFL is the only team sport that I watch. I do root for the Italian soccer team during World Cup matches, but do not have any interest in the matches outside the World Cup. I have some interest in individual sports. I have no permanent dislike for any NFL team, but of late, I don't have much love for the Indianapolis Colts, nor the Pittsburgh Steelers. The dislike for the Steelers comes from the fact that the local sports bars are full of their loud fans. I have some sentiment for the "local" teams: Detroit Lions and Cleveland Browns.

But at least we know about it!

good point!

Good thing you quit the NFL picks thread before it got too embarassing.

Excellent articles. Thanks for posting them.

True enough, but it was a happy madness then.

Bobby, as I prefer to remember him, before being overtaken by madness.

Surprising news this morning. We knew Bobby had been spending a lot of time in an Icelandic hospital for kidney failure, but who would have known that he would die--quite fittingly at the age of 64, which is the exact number of squares on the chessboard? Bobby Fisher was one of my childhood heroes. I had known the rules of chess and sometimes played with my Dad, but when Bobby and Boris Spassky faced off in 1972, it ushered a chess boom across America. People took up the game and everyone was buying chess sets, books, and clocks. Chess tournaments benefitted from record turnouts. The USCF membership roster shot up from 50,000 range to 200,000 virtually overnight. The next major event was the San Antonio tournament in 1972 which attracted several of the best international players including a young Anatoly Karpov. Fischer didn't play, but he did make a brief and grand entrance into the tournament hall to watch things. Then as 1973 and 1974 rolled along and it became apparent that Anatoly Karpov was the best player outside of Bobby, we began to realize that Fischer had played his last official tournament game of chess. His demands as champion was a mix of sound and rational proposals along with certain provisions which would favor the incumbent titleholder. At the same time, nothing was outrageous, but the Soviets were in no mood for compromises. They felt the title had slipped away from them when Spassky made concessions to keep his match going with Fischer, even when he could have walked away a 2-0 victor. Fischer had suddenly made more demands in that match and was willing to walk away unless Spassky agreed to certain things. Boris, ever the gentleman, agreed and the rest was history. The then President of FIDE, Max Euwe tried desperately to unite the Soviets and Bobby, but couldn't bridge the unbridgeable. Bobby was willing to step away from FIDE-sponsored match and in effect give up his title rather than defend it against Anatoly Karpov under the current system. Karpov later proved to be a great champion himself, but played under Fischer's shadow for many years. What made Bobby Fischer so great? His achievements were huge. Prior to the 1940s, the best chess players were lonely alienated geniuses (such as Alexander Alekhine) mixed in with gifted amateurs. The Soviets took the game to new heights in the 1940s when Botvinnik, Smyslov, Bronstein, Keres, Boleslavsky, Kotov and many others dominated the scene. The Soviet "school of chess" was created; and Soviet players dominated the game up till Fischer's time. They instituted systematic analysis, and many of their best players played a dynamic game of chess with a fine sense of initiative. As a boy, Bobby realized the gap between the Soviet players and the rest of the world, and taught himself enough Russian, so he could read their chess literature. He studied 14 hours per day and the world had not seen such a chess fanatic since the days of Alexander Alekhine, who died a lonely man in a hotel room in 1946 with a chess board in his lap. Bobby Fischer developed a marvelous technique which was unmatched. He could play any kind of game and was well rounded, but it was in the technical aspects of the game where he was unmatched. Several of the Soviets could still best him in dynamic razor sharp lines, but Bobby proved to be stronger overall. If I was to describe his chess abilities to a nonchessplayer, I would say that his style was like Marvin Hagler's in boxing. Like Fischer, Hagler was good in all the elements of his field. His technique was irreproachable. Fischer was that way in chess. He was absolute perfection over the board. That he was able to end the Soviet chess hegemony; and that he was able to accomplish this singlehandedly, represents an achievement so grand that time can never diminish it. His years as a recluse (over the last 35 years or so) were tragic and mortifying. Although his mother was Jewish, he let loose his raging anti-semitism (which had been there even as a kid,) and he became a ridiculous and lonely misanthrope. Chess had kept him somewhat sane, and once he quit the game, he lost all connection with reality. I had always hoped that he would write a chess book or publish some chess articles; but he ran away from the game as intensely as he had once studied and played it. He turned down all kind of offers to write books or form business partnerships. There was the story about Pepsi (or Coke) approaching him for a multi-million dollar promotional offer after he had won the title in 1972. Bobby told the Pepsi representative that their drink rotted people's teeth and he would have nothing to do with them. He was childlike in his sense of right and wrong. I cannot relate to the trash he broadcasted over the radio waves or which was printed in the press over the last few decades. That man has nothing to do with him. It was the early and young Bobby who was a major influence to me. His achievements will never dim. I'm crying a little right now. RIP....

SS1 needs to move out of Watts.

NE GB This wraps it up for Noj. He can't be caught. It was a close finish. Congratulations!

Playoff Week two results: Noj 2-2 Conn 3-1 Van B. 3-1 Year to date: Noj 174-90 Conn 172-92 Van B. 166-98 With just three games left, I'd say that Nojjy has wrapped it up; but don't forget to make your picks before this weekend's games.

One other factor which shouldn't be overlooked is the two week rest Phillips gave his starters. Dallas gave their starters a rest last game of the season against the Skins. Giants played all out to try to defeat the Patriots, who also played their starters. The Wade Phillips/Tony Dungy approach of giving their players such a lengthy rest time is absolute madness. But I should say to the Cowboy fans here (Aggie, Al, JSangrey) that the scheduling hardly favored the Cowboys here. It's very difficult to defeat the same opponent three times in the same season. It was a very unfortunate matchup for the Cowboys. They'll be back next year. They are a very good team. As for the Colts fans (Rachel, and Mark), you guys will be back next year again. Dungy hurt your team by resting his players for so long. Colts had their ring last year. They are still a fine club and will be back. Go Pats!!

I'm biased but it seems as if the Colts benefit from more half-baked pass interference calls than any other team in the league. I really wish the rules committee would revisit the pass interference rules. So many of those calls are borderline but the resulting penalty is huge.

Colts had a beat up San Diego team to defeat at home and laid a big egg. Well, at least Tony Dungy got to rest all his players in the final regular season game against Tennessee! They lost the game and were flat as usual, but they got PLENTY of rest and gave a freebie to a hopeless Tennessee team.

Does that kinda score get you groupies? I wish.

And my rating is 2045. Almost as much as the sexy babes!

Ok, it's not the most readable copy. 3-0 baby!

Having a few drinks tonight in celebration. I had a good tournament today: PAUL MAGINLEY |3.0 |W 2|W 3|W 4| OH | 12672331 / R: 2012 ->2045 | | | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------- 2 | JOHN RUSSELL STOPA |2.0 |L 1|W 4|W 3| OH | 10019931 / R: 2200 ->2200 | | | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------- 3 | JOHN F MARTIN |1.0 |W 4|L 1|L 2| OH | 12743483 / R: 1856 ->1863 | | | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------- 4 | MORGAN EVERETT |0.0 |L 3|L 2|L 1| MI | 12369730 / R: 2009 ->2000 | | | | |----------------------------------------------------------------

back to silly trombone pics?

Florio of PFT is often wrong. He wrote a lot of dumb speculation about the Patriots, but he has some interesting comments about the Cowboys. I post this since we have a few Cowboy fans here. The last paragraph is really funny. POSTED 2:16 p.m. EST, January 11, 2008 COWBOYS IMPLOSION COMING? There's a sense in some league circles that, regardless of how the 2007 season turns out for the Dallas Cowboys, a decline is on the way. As one source said, Dallas is "going to be a disaster within two years." The problem? Per the source, owner/G.M. Jerry Jones is "believing it's about him again, just like he did when Jimmy Johnson brought them to the top." The source predicts that former head coach Bill Parcells and former V.P. of college and pro scouting Jeff Ireland are "going to pick them clean," and that Jones is going to let it (continue to) happen, because Jones thinks he doesn't need them. The result? "They'll go back to drafting Quincy Carter, Ebenezer Ekuban, Solomon Page, Dwayne Goodrich, Tony Dixon, and Antonio Bryant," opined the source. The other concern is the approach of coach Wade Phillips. As the source observed, the "coach-lets-us-act-like-men" approach quickly results in the inmates running the prison. It's hard to disagree. After all, would quarterback Tony Romo have taken a bye-week trip to Cabo San Lucas if the Tuna were still the head coach? Maybe, but Romo would be walking a little funny this week, given that he'd have Parcells shoe lodged into his descending colon.

My picks: GREEN BAY NEW ENGLAND INDIANAPOLIS NY GIANTS Noj called to say he can't be online this weekend. His picks: GREEN BAY NEW ENGLAND INDIANAPOLIS DALLAS

Judit Polgar: the great and beautiful queen of chess!

Things have changed. At the 2007 Scholastic Chess Nationals in Kansas City, I saw a lot of pretty and talented young ladies.