Nothing Is Over!

Game Of The Week

by Tim Brennan

[Today I viewed an article that Tim Brennan's website is sending out.  I have to express my deep disappointment that he is continuing to share false and discredited blogs with information that is not true to the chess players of Colorado.  He says one thing in podcasts and then he turns around and does this.  Shame on you, Tim Brennan!]

There is a dangerous “mind virus” being propagated by Paul Anderson, and his ilk, here in the chess community of Colorado Springs.

And I am not referring to 

• the unsolicited “Evolution is a Myth” creationist propaganda that the Anderson clan passes out at tournaments
• how Paul refers to himself as an “Expert” even during the times Anthea Carson NN has slapped his rating back to the 1900s
• the flagrant violations of US Copyright law Title 17 USC § 302 which take place on Paul’s YouTube Channel.

No, this “meme” is much more serious, and dangerous.

It threatens to rob of us of 

• beautiful games
• studies
• tactics
• all of the things that we love about the game of chess

It promises to stunt the minds and growth opportunities of our young and steal the last hopes and dreams of our old.

What is this horrendous seed of poison that Paul is trying to plant into our collective consciousness you ask?

Paul’s warped idea is that you should resign early, which shows respect to your opponent, and chess “maturity.”

Normally I think that Paul, who writes the really interesting Colorado Springs Chess Newsletter, has a lot of great ideas and thoughts.

But this brain child of Paul’s goes against just about everything that I believe in, and rant about in my own chess newsletters.

My own ideas about “when to resign” in a game are based on the teachings of my mentors Paul Grimm, Francisco Baltier, and Rambo – John J Rambo!

Nothing is Over!

Or to quote Bluto from Animal House:

"What? Over? Did you say “over?”  Nothing is over until we decide it is!  Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?  Hell no!"

I love this kind of fighting spirit!

In the past year I have looked at thousands of games looking for good examples to use in my chess tactics newsletter, chess column, and chess training database.

The most important thing I have learned is that we all make mistakes, and we are constantly making them.

Just recently I have seen:

• A Grandmaster fall for a stalemate trap at the 2012 National Open, with a totally winning position
• A Grandmaster just leave his bishop unprotected for no reason on move 7 in the US Championship.
• A Grandmaster get his queen trapped in the World Championship match

And these are the types of blunders that are happening to the best players in the world!

Paul likes to publicly praise his opponents who resign down a pawn or 2 against him:

"Learn from the example of a wise young maiden.  I was really impressed with Katie after this game.  It was not because of her play, but rather it was because of her resignation.  I have played a lot of scholastic kids who have been taught to “Never Resign” and was expecting a long, slow death for Katie after she fell behind two pawns.  However, she graciously shook my hand and went on to use her time more wisely." 

Paul Anderson, Colorado Chess Informant, July 2012

White to move

Of course he does!  He wants to reenforce this type of behavior in others, just like Pavlov ringing a bell to make a dog salivate.

When people resign early against him, it just makes his life easier, and basically gives him free rating points!

But when the tables are turned, does Paul himself resign early?

Hell to the no!

Recent stories include drawing Jeff Baffo in a blitz game after blundering a queen, beating Buck Buchanan after a dubious knight sac, and drawing Jeff Fox down a bishop.

See, Paul likes it when people resign against him, not the other way around.

It is kind of like taking the bus and using public transportation instead of driving a car – everyone thinks it is a great idea – FOR OTHER PEOPLE TO DO!

I could easily give hundreds of examples of games where someone was losing, didn’t resign, then came back to win or draw.  That would be like shooting fish in a barrel.

Instead, I will just invite you to play my friend Paul Anderson sometime, and do as he does, not as he says!

Nothing Is Over!

[Event "June Panera"]
[Site "https://cschessnews.blogspot.com/"]
[Site "Colorado Springs"]
[Date "2011.06.02"]
[Round "1.1"]
[White "Wise, Katie"]
[Black "Anderson, Paul"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B07"]
[WhiteElo "1815"]
[BlackElo "1938"]
[PlyCount "38"]
[EventDate "2011.06.02"]
[TimeControl "5400"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. Bd3 d6 5. h3 Nf6 6. O-O O-O 7. c4 Na6 8. Re1 Nd7 9. Bg5 c5 10. Bf1 cxd4 11. Nbd2 Qe8 12. Nh2 e5 13. f4 f6 14. Bh4 Ndc5 15. Bg3 Bd7 16. Rb1 Nb4 17. Ndf3 Nxa2 18. Qd2 a5 19. Nh4 Bc6 0-1

https://www.chessvideos.tv/chess-game-replayer.php?id=67509

This Week In Chess

On July 10th, the Colorado Springs Chess Club held a Quad event.  The participants were split into groups of 4 for a rated, Round Robin tournament (RR, G30) and an unrated, Round Robin tournament (RR, G20).  Joe Pahk and Mike Madsen won the rated quads while Mark McGough and Tyler Ruona won the unrated quads.  Here are the results:

Score, Player

Quad A (rated)

2.5 Joe Pahk
2.0 Josh Divine
1.5 Jeff Fox
0.0 Peter Grigg

Quad B (rated)

3.0 Mike Madsen
2.0 Daniel Herman
1.0 Eugin Pahk
0.0 Sara Herman

Quad C (unrated)

3.0 Mark McGough
2.0 Alex Torres
1.0 David Banney
0.0 Shirley Herman

Quad D (unrated)

3.0 Tyler Ruona
2.0 Jeremy McLinden
0.5 Emily Given
0.5 Mike Kniffin