outrageous escape

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AlanLlewellyn
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Re: outrageous escape

Post by AlanLlewellyn » Fri Aug 19, 2022 4:49 pm

Geoff Chandler wrote:
Fri Aug 19, 2022 2:00 pm
Hi Alan,

Any chance names as well as places and dates could be given in OTB games.

I run a 'Always Pause Before Promoting' section and I like number four. 1...Rc8.


I have many examples where a player has automatically taken a Queen and stalemate.
This one also fits under the 'Game Over Blunder' highlighting when we are at the most vulnerable...
...playing the 'they must resign now move.'

It would quite funny (or tragic) if the player had spotted 2.bxc8=Q is a stalemate so took a Bishop instead.

Edit: I thought I read Position 4 was from the Bedford Open. If it was an online game there quite understandable.

Edit 2. Misread the I'f' it was an online game...good an OTB game.
i could be wrong here but i was told that game was on a chessbase magazine game list on one of theyre dvds. incidentally it was the only points i scored in that open having been comprehensively beaten by Marcus Harvey in round 1

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AlanLlewellyn
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Re: outrageous escape

Post by AlanLlewellyn » Fri Aug 19, 2022 4:54 pm

I mean I lost the remaining 3rd 4th and 5th games and i outplayed marcus for a few moves before he totally took over, and in desperation i hung my queen.

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AlanLlewellyn
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Re: outrageous escape

Post by AlanLlewellyn » Fri Aug 19, 2022 5:01 pm

in the list of best moves given the vast majority of the ones with handles were 45 45 tc team events played on a smart board they are online but to all intents and purposes not really online.

Roger Lancaster
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Re: outrageous escape

Post by Roger Lancaster » Fri Aug 19, 2022 7:09 pm

Matt Mackenzie wrote:
Fri Aug 19, 2022 4:09 pm
Roger Lancaster wrote:
Fri Aug 19, 2022 11:57 am
I think we've got the gist of this without more examples. When Alan finds a swindle, it's clever. When his opponent finds a swindle, they're cheating.
Really not a terribly helpful comment.
I just have an aversion to people claiming "cheat" on minimal evidence when they lose online games. While I abhor cheats as much as anyone else, I've had juniors give up chess after being labelled cheats on what I would consider the flimsiest of evidence.

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Re: outrageous escape

Post by David Sedgwick » Fri Aug 19, 2022 10:00 pm

AlanLlewellyn wrote:
Fri Aug 19, 2022 2:26 pm
pos 4 game

I remember that one. It was shown to me not long after it happened.

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Christopher Kreuzer
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Re: outrageous escape

Post by Christopher Kreuzer » Fri Aug 19, 2022 10:45 pm

The gentlemanly ethos of an earlier age (and arguably some people still adopt this view now) is that attempting to swindle a draw in a lost position is somehow wrong (I think there is a large element of truth in this) and that it is better to resign gracefully and play the game in its 'true' spirit and not try and 'trick' the opponent. Of course, some people vehemently disagree with this and go down fighting to the bitter end.

Alan, can I ask if there was any element of psychology at play. Did you play the move in time trouble and, maybe dramatically clutch your head with your hands in 'dismay' to distract your opponent from the stalemate? (I am being overly dramatic here, as head clutching never really works, it just makes the opponent suspicious. :D ) I suspect not, but some people have written about how best to play a last-ditch 'awful' move and not alert your opponent by the wrong body language. I ask because there often needs to be an additional element to make the player not realise that they are falling into a trap.

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AlanLlewellyn
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Re: outrageous escape

Post by AlanLlewellyn » Fri Aug 19, 2022 11:03 pm

Christopher Kreuzer wrote:
Fri Aug 19, 2022 10:45 pm
The gentlemanly ethos of an earlier age (and arguably some people still adopt this view now) is that attempting to swindle a draw in a lost position is somehow wrong (I think there is a large element of truth in this) and that it is better to resign gracefully and play the game in its 'true' spirit and not try and 'trick' the opponent. Of course, some people vehemently disagree with this and go down fighting to the bitter end.

Alan, can I ask if there was any element of psychology at play. Did you play the move in time trouble and, maybe dramatically clutch your head with your hands in 'dismay' to distract your opponent from the stalemate? (I am being overly dramatic here, as head clutching never really works, it just makes the opponent suspicious. :D ) I suspect not, but some people have written about how best to play a last-ditch 'awful' move and not alert your opponent by the wrong body language. I ask because there often needs to be an additional element to make the player not realise that they are falling into a trap.
i used no psychology at all i didnt expect to get the stalemate and waited patiently quietly and poker faced until he picked up the queen and placed it in the action of queening the pawn-if he had picked up a rook or a knight he would have won, so i was very nervous at that point. He may have been distracted by a few players finishing just after i made my move which was total luck on my part. The draw is not at all obvious unless pointed out as my king looks out in the open but every square was covered, as for drawing being underhand i think that is a strange way of thinking personally i enjoy the escapes ive had only immeasurable and there is often a lot of skill involved sometimes as in pos1 the draw is actually forced.
David Sedgwick i was told the funny story about how the game scorers afterwards were going through the game and thought the result was a mistake and wanted to get in touch with me until they put the game on analysis.

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Christopher Kreuzer
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Re: outrageous escape

Post by Christopher Kreuzer » Fri Aug 19, 2022 11:11 pm

AlanLlewellyn wrote:
Fri Aug 19, 2022 11:03 pm
David Sedgwick i was told the funny story about how the game scorers afterwards were going through the game and thought the result was a mistake and wanted to get in touch with me until they put the game on analysis.
That's funny!

Being poker-faced was a good strategy!

I am tempted to tell now the story about the game where I missed delivering a mate in one. But I am not as organised as you and don't have my games ready to hand at the moment.

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AlanLlewellyn
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Re: outrageous escape

Post by AlanLlewellyn » Fri Aug 19, 2022 11:23 pm

Chris i have once had someone resign in a totally won position and against a guy called Mark Houlsby I announced mate in 3 when he had a few ways out and gave him the moves to mate which he then knew to avoid lol, he went on to win the game.

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AlanLlewellyn
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Re: outrageous escape

Post by AlanLlewellyn » Fri Aug 19, 2022 11:28 pm

the funniest moment of psychology i have seen was between a weak (20 grade) player at our club against a strong player- the strong player said look you can win a piece there if you play (and he stated a move), the weak guy said hey yes and made the move and the next move the strong player made was mate(because the 20 grade had made the move told).

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Chris Goodall
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Re: outrageous escape

Post by Chris Goodall » Sat Aug 20, 2022 1:02 am

Christopher Kreuzer wrote:
Fri Aug 19, 2022 10:45 pm
The gentlemanly ethos of an earlier age (and arguably some people still adopt this view now) is that attempting to swindle a draw in a lost position is somehow wrong (I think there is a large element of truth in this) and that it is better to resign gracefully and play the game in its 'true' spirit and not try and 'trick' the opponent. Of course, some people vehemently disagree with this and go down fighting to the bitter end.
People are welcome to resign gracefully against me, and I would resign gracefully rather than resort to head-clutching antics. I would also give a player fair warning if they're about to lose a won position on time by not pressing the clock - the first time they do it. But I reserve the right to move the pieces around in the most dastardly way possible whatever the position, and would lose respect for a player who took offence at that.
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Joey Stewart
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Re: outrageous escape

Post by Joey Stewart » Sat Aug 20, 2022 3:35 am

On the subject of poor sports and swindling, the ones that I find somewhat amusing are the utter hypocrites encountered online who manage to swindle a dead lost game into a winning position and then start whinging about me having no respect for playing on to the bitter end (as slowly as possible generally) when if they in any way believed in respecting opponents would have resigned themselves.

I feel like it is not possible to have it both ways, you can either be a dirty dishonourable swindling scumbag, be generally hated by everyone you play but get the satisfaction of knowing your win rate is higher then it should be or you can be the consummate gentleman player who resigns more willingly and is generally praised and respected as a good sport
Lose one queen and it is a disaster, Lose 1000 queens and it is just a statistic.

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AlanLlewellyn
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Re: outrageous escape

Post by AlanLlewellyn » Sat Aug 20, 2022 8:01 am

Lilly livered is my opinion of people who resign at a drop of the hat.

Geoff Chandler
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Re: outrageous escape

Post by Geoff Chandler » Sun Aug 21, 2022 3:58 pm

Hi Alan,

Here is a link to that game you played. I used it to wrap up the piece on stalemates.

https://www.redhotpawn.com/chess-blog/t ... -chess.528

Thanks again.

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Re: outrageous escape

Post by AlanLlewellyn » Sun Aug 21, 2022 4:10 pm

Geoff Chandler wrote:
Sun Aug 21, 2022 3:58 pm
Hi Alan,

Here is a link to that game you played. I used it to wrap up the piece on stalemates.

https://www.redhotpawn.com/chess-blog/t ... -chess.528

Thanks again.
is that fact that capablanca lost against all 100 simul master players actually true???? nice blogg

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