a third designated party collecting the comments of both players move by move for publication here would be great. i could play someone on euro timezones in the future, preferably weekdays, i'm 2300ish elo

If we did it on ICC we could just use recorder

I'll try to keep track of the comments and obv save the game. Both players have confirmed 8pm Eastern US time on Sunday. Discipline vs All-in. Huge thanks to both players for getting us started!

Hey everyone.

My handle is MasterMcLovin on FICS

this still going?

I'm on FICS right now. All-in hasn't logged on yet.

Looks like you're both on. I'm ready to begin observing when the game starts

Okay, the game is about to begin. We'll wait a few minutes for everyone who wants to watch to observe us.

Yeah where are all of our adoring fans?

Handle: MasterMcLovin

Seriously, this is going to take 30 minutes to an hour and if only two people are going to watch I could just jerk off instead.

Blindfolded jerk circle imo?

VGG guys, thanks for doing that!

I won.

0-1 in 40 moves.

You're very welcome Bob

Good game, All-in. Looks like I played well in the early middlegame but then got a bit lost, especially my misguided attempt to retain my d3 bishop. My kingside attack turned into a kingside implosion, and Nf6+ was the final straw (I had about a minute left on my clock there and was a bit desperate).

Good game, Discipline.

Yeah you can't be too critical about any move with a minute or so left. I thought it was a decent attempt and made me spend some time in the moment.

We've gotta do something to get more of an audience next time though. This can be a great event for the forum.

So when are ya gonna post the game with you guys' thoughts?

yeah i thought that was kinda the point

This is largely my fault. I had volunteered to keep track of their in-game comments and post them here. I went to St Louis to watch the last couple rounds of the US Championships and didn't get back as quickly as I thought I would. Sorry guys Hopefully either Discipline or All-in would be willing to at least post the game score and hopefully a few of their thoughts as well.

Oh, and if we do this again, we have to find a better way to advertise imo.

I'm pretty sure you can go to some website and find the game plus all the comments made during the game. I'm semi-busy right now but I might look into it later if no one else does.

ficsgames.com should have at least the record of the game, if not the comments

Damn, saw this too late.
I'll be part of the public next time...

Ban swingdoc

but seriously I'll post the game with some thoughts later today/tomorrow.

Again, very sorry! Even knowing that I wouldn't make it back, I'd still take watching the final 2 rounds of the US Championships live any day I did manage to find the game. I'll post some comments later and hopefully our two awesome contestants would be willing to post some of their thoughts as well.


[Event "unrated standard match"]
[Site "Free Internet Chess Server"]
[Date "2009.05.19"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Discipline"]
[Black "MasterMcLovin"]
[Result "*"]
[WhiteElo "1971"]
[BlackElo "-"]
[ECO "B21"]
[TimeControl "1800+5"]

1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. c3 Nf6 4. e5 Nd5 5. Bc4 Qc7 6. Qe2 Nb6 7. Bb3 d3 8.
Qxd3 Qxe5+ 9. Ne2 Nc6 10. Bf4 Qf6 11. a4 d6 12. Nd2 Bf5 13. Qe3 e5 14. a5 Nd7
15. Bg5 Qg6 16. h4 h6 17. Nf4 Qh7 18. Nd5 Rc8 19. a6 b6 20. Bf4 Nc5 21. Bc4
Nd3+ 22. Ke2 Nxf4+ 23. Nxf4 Be7 24. Nd5 O-O 25. f3 Be6 26. g4 Bd8 27. g5 Ne7
28. Nxe7+ Bxe7 29. Bd3 Bf5 30. Bb5 Rc5 31. Ba4 h5 32. Rhg1 Qg6 33. Ne4 Rc4
34. Nf6+ Bxf6 35. gxf6 Qxf6 36. Bb3 Rxh4 37. Rg2 e4 38. f4 Bg4+ 39. Kd2 Bf3
40. Rg3 Rh2+ *

1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. c3 Nf6

I personally don't like this move as it allows white to transpose into an Alapin. I'm convinced that the SM gambit leads to equality at best for white, but the same simply can't be said about the Alapin. However, this transposition does avoid a lot of nasty tactics and that seems like a reasonable approach.

4. e5 Nd5 5. Bc4

I guess Lenderman plays this, but it just looks considerably less awesome than 5. Nf3 6. Bc4 imo.

Qc7 6. Qe2 Nb6 7. Bb3 d3

This was a very accurate move order by black. Qc7 looks quite good, forcing Qe2. Then Nb6 nudges the bishop to a worse square before d3. If black plays 6 ... d3 7. Qe4 Nb6 8. Bxd3 is much more comfortable for white.

8. Qxd3?

This is probably just a mistake. I don't see how giving up the e pawn can be okay for white. Again, Qe4 is probably best. d2 is well guarded so the pawn isn't going anywhere.

Qxe5+ 9. Ne2?!

9. Be3 followed by Nf3 and Nd2-e4 or something like that looks like it gives white much better chances to gain counterplay.

Nc6 10. Bf4 Qf6




Okay, so here's a good spot to take stock of the opening so far. White is down a pawn, but what's much worse is that his pieces aren't well placed or coordinated. Ne2 would probably much rather be on f3. Bb3 is actually well placed, Bf4 is just sort of hanging out, eyeing black's queenside. Nb1 would like to go to c3, but can't. Black's position is solid. Nothing spectacular, but no real weaknesses to speak of. Only problem might be the Queen on f6, but it's hard to see exactly how white takes advantage of that.

11. a4

Maybe I just don't understand this move. If I'm white, I would try to develop as fast as possible and this move doesn't seem to help. It does threaten a5, undermining the knight, but is that really a problem? Plus the white queenside now has some pretty weak light squares. Not an immediate problem, but kind of a weird weakness to inflict on yourself with no/little comp.

d6 12. Nd2 Bf5 13. Qe3 e5 14. a5 Nd7 15. Bg5 Qg6 16. h4 h6 17. Nf4 Qh7 18. Nd5 Rc8 19. a6 b6 20. Bf4 Nc5

White's trying to drum up an attack. I just think he was completely hampered by his first 10 or 11 moves. With a little accurate-looking defense by black, white's lead in development is absorbed and I think the game is probably already over.

21. Bc4 Nd3+ 22. Ke2 Nxf4+ 23. Nxf4 Be7

Oops, black has the 2 bishops and prevented white from castling. Not to mention that any cramp black felt is now gone and by reducing the size of white's army, black has seriously hurts white's chances to drum up an attack.

24. Nd5 O-O 25. f3 Be6 26. g4 Bd8 27. g5 Ne7 28. Nxe7+ Bxe7 29. Bd3 Bf5 30. Bb5 Rc5 31. Ba4 h5 32. Rhg1 Qg6 33. Ne4 Rc4 34. Nf6+ Bxf6 35. gxf6 Qxf6 36. Bb3 Rxh4 37. Rg2 e4 38. f4 Bg4+ 39. Kd2 Bf3 40. Rg3 Rh2+

And black does a nice job of finishing off the game.

I'm not so sure that I played the opening as poorly as you think. If Qe4, then ...d5!