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Re: When termites attack

Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2012 12:00 pm
by Carl Hibbard
Oh dear...

http://stevegiddinschessblog.wordpress. ... ewatch-14/

Is this forum not one big long list of comments then?

Re: When termites attack

Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2012 12:11 pm
by Richard Bates
It's a bit difficult to believe that SG had something better to do than avidly monitoring the forum in the middle of the night, thereby missing all the excitement!

Re: When termites attack

Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2012 5:57 pm
by Thomas Rendle
From his latest blog entitled Pots and kettles "A truly astounding tweet from Silvio "Danny Boy" Danailov, earlier today:

"Some FIDE officials have begun to behave in a very aggressive and arrogant way. Somebody has to remind them who they really are".

Words fail me!"

Aggressive and arrogant? Pots and kettles? :shock:

Re: When termites attack

Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2012 5:57 pm
by Thomas Rendle
Not that I disagree with the post itself.

Re: When termites attack

Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2012 7:32 pm
by LawrenceCooper
Thomas Rendle wrote:From his latest blog entitled Pots and kettles "A truly astounding tweet from Silvio "Danny Boy" Danailov, earlier today:

"Some FIDE officials have begun to behave in a very aggressive and arrogant way. Somebody has to remind them who they really are".

Words fail me!"

Aggressive and arrogant? Pots and kettles? :shock:
I've not managed to work the guy out. I had the misfortune to attend part of an ECU meeting during the European Team Championship and he said virtually nothing throughout and yet once he was in the playing hall it was virtually impossible to get him to be quiet, on and off his phone :roll:

Re: When termites attack

Posted: Sun Apr 29, 2012 2:50 pm
by Roger de Coverly
A couple of things caught my eye in the latest post

http://stevegiddinschessblog.blogspot.c ... o-but.html

First the comment
it attracted approving comments from hundreds of readers
I'm not sure how and where as the blog itself, as we know, doesn't support comments. Surely emails from termites would go straight to the deleted folder.

Then in the linked piece
http://stevegiddinschessblog.wordpress. ... olunteers/

he observes (of the Sheffield British)
it received some £30k in sponsorship and donations,
which is contrary to what he later wrote about CJ.

Re: When termites attack

Posted: Sun Apr 29, 2012 3:01 pm
by Carl Hibbard
Roger de Coverly wrote:I'm not sure how and where as the blog itself, as we know, doesn't support comments.
Hundreds for the RDK mini-me seems unlikely :!:

Re: When termites attack

Posted: Wed May 30, 2012 10:09 am
by Roger de Coverly
I seem to have been added to the Gidders hit list

http://stevegiddinschessblog.blogspot.c ... fault.html

As I was at University alongside Keene, Hartston and others, I recall the 1971 matches from personal memory and Petrosian v Korchnoi was nine draws from ten, some of them very short. I also recall that while the then top English players would Arkell their way to victory against lesser players, they were rather less willing to fight each other. The influx of players modelling their style of Fischer swept away the drawish nature of the pre Fischer Soviet School of Chess. The growth of the weekend swiss must have helped as well.

Quite why this historical observation is seen as an attack on the Times Chess Correspondent is a mystery. Previously he was content to attack my play in the last round game in Exmouth, but as demonstrated elsewhere, the loss was down to a blunder late in the game and Keith's victory was more down to him finding a way to unbalance the position than anything special in his technique.

Re: When termites attack

Posted: Wed May 30, 2012 11:53 am
by John Upham
For some reason I am reminded of various Spitting Images sketches of "The Two Davids".

Perhaps a psychiatrist in this place could explain this?

Re: When termites attack

Posted: Wed May 30, 2012 12:21 pm
by Christopher Kreuzer
Why has this topic come up again? I thought we'd all had enough last time?

Re: When termites attack

Posted: Wed May 30, 2012 3:17 pm
by Geoff Chandler
Hi Chris

If you get a mention in SG's blog then you have to let others know
so we know who is in the 'I've Been Flamed Club.' and can wear the apt baseball cap.

By coincidence I recently picked up one of SG's books.

101 Chess Opening Traps

Quick review. Not worth the cover price of £10.99.
It is 112 pages. £5.99 was the price.
(I fought hard to get Rampant Chess out for £9.95 which is the max I'd pay for any book.)

But if you see it 2nd hand then get it.
It's written in a nice jovial manner which the subject deserves.
Loads of GM examples and SG gives a running total on how many times
certain traps/ptifalls has happened on his DB.
Happy to report that on my up to date DB the same traps are still appearing.

They are not all traps. Sometimes plausible blunders and if he can
SG fills in some of the anecdotal background.

Trap 25 Fischer - Korchnoi. Contains no opening trap it's just
Korchnoi spotting a good tactical shot.
So treat it as a collection of howlers and lemons worth well knowing
and seeing with loads of tactical ideas in action.

One big niggle. Sometimes SG does not mention the names.
(Why do people do that?)

1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Be7



3.Qh5.

"Played between two players well over 2000 on a high county board
of a recent (book published in 1998) Kent v Buckinghamshire county match."

And that was Trap 1.(see what I mean about a plausible blunder.
2.Bc4 is not quite setting a trap.) I thought I was in for a treat
of nameless games.

But SG does name and shame most of the time.Even his own disasters.

A good fun read, entertaining games, three diagrams per game so you can
use it as a test book. If you see it for around the £5.00 mark grab it.

I see in the locked thread someone suggests that the SG rants tainted with malice
are down to the fact he may feel degraded because he writes for chess magazines.

I'm no expert but I doubt it. You can see the lad clearly enjoys writing about chess.
And when he does (without all the hostility) it's often good.

I've no idea why the sudden attacks laced with poison.
The one on me I shrugged off - been called worse. I thought a man of his education
would have me diving for a dictionary when he hit me. It would not have been the first
time I've had to phone up Keith Ruxton and asked him what exactly it is I've been called now.
(Once it was a compliment!)

Re: When termites attack

Posted: Wed May 30, 2012 6:01 pm
by Christopher Kreuzer
Geoff Chandler wrote:Hi Chris

If you get a mention in SG's blog then you have to let others know
so we know who is in the 'I've Been Flamed Club.' and can wear the apt baseball cap.
Hi Geoff,

I have a backlog of interesting games I've played to post up here. I'd prefer to do that than carry on in this thread. One idea is to see if group annotation of a game is possible. I'll post the game and then invite annotations...

Re: When termites attack

Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 11:58 am
by Roger de Coverly
I seem to have got under his skin as someone that he would like to ridicule.

http://stevegiddinschessblog.blogspot.c ... er-de.html

I am in fact in partial agreement with the writer who commented in
http://stevegiddinschessblog.wordpress. ... in-infamy/

that
Oh, and just to cap it all, the meeting also voted to establish a compulsory membership scheme. If they have their way, every one of you out there, who wishes to play competitive chess in this country, will henceforth be required to join, and contribute money to, this vile, discredited and morally bankrupt organisation!

Re: When termites attack

Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 1:59 pm
by John Townsend
Roger, constancy is a quality to be admired. May I continue this morning's astronomical theme?

"But I am constant as the northern star,
Of whose true-fix'd and resting quality
There is no fellow in the firmament."

Kind wishes,

John Townsend

Re: When termites attack

Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2012 12:58 am
by John McKenna
Sic transit gloria mundi