Well, the sun is finally setting on my Bahamas vacation. We're back at my sister's after a few days on the pinkish sands of beautiful Harbour Island and tomorrow we'll be heading from "79°F - Feels Like 81°F" to "23°F - Feels Like 6°F". Ouch. At least the weekend looks better than that.
Really crushed to hear about the death of my all-time favorite chessplayer, David Bronstein. We'll have much more on him and a permanent tribute as well.
Awesome! Now That's What I'm Talkin' About! A Well Deserved Vacation In Paradise For Mig And Tyrious. Thanks For Sharing The Pics. Namaste...
From boasting about a female acquantance to pouting about "bad" weather (did your ancestors live in sub-tropics, guess not) to the fake "crushed to hear" about the death of an 82-year-old man. Is there anything on this site besides self-promoting?
Mig if you want to justify your vacation schedule (from what, btw? do you have a job? Running a blog hardly qualifies) you should run for the US Congress - the only workplace in America from which the workers are absent about half the time.
You're #1 chess journalist in the country. We need stuff from you, Mig. Every day. Editorials, interviews, reviews. You can't get off by writing a few words of a teaser and then let the denizens of this blog endlessly push their personal agenda forward. "Professor" Shabbazz, "Bad Boy" Greg Koster, "the Learned" Yuriy and others - all of them are fun guys, but this is your website Mig, so get off your butt and do some work. Items?
What's up with the US Championship? I heard Henderson's back in the US. Get him on the phone...
Awww, did someone wake up on the wrong side of the cave this morning and realize this is my personal blog? Waahh. Whining about someone complaining about the weather? Comedy. Saying I'm fake about mourning the loss of David Bronstein? Jackassery. As for vacation, I have several jobs (this blog not one of them) and work more hours than anyone I know with one notable exception. C'mon Yerm, you can do better than that.
[Edited] Oops, hey no fair writing something relevant while I'm writing my vengeful screed in reply to your first. Yah, Henderson is lurking outside Chicago. I have a bunch of stuff on the 2007 USCh, nearly guaranteed to tick everyone off. The corporate logo tattoos for a start... Are there any chess journalists in the USA? I'm thinking of shooting for #1 chess journalist in Spanish Wells, Bahamas.
Mig is in complete denial about Kramnik-Deep Fritz. Like he really went to the Bahamas.
Mig,
Please promise me a blog either about FIDE's WCC proposal (which is the best thing I have seen in a while but everybody seems to be ignoring) or the Russian Superfinal (which has had a few interesting games). I don't want to see any more of this "chess is over because Kramnik made one blunder" crap and a few of the other degenerations in threads.
Mig,
The cave is a typical suburban dwelling (right off the Richmond Amtrak/BART if you still remember the layout)that takes hours to clean after the kids spent a productive week messing it up. I've been up and running around with vacuum cleaners and dusters since 8am and therefore don't take lightly anyone's boasting about their life of leisure.
I agree the Russian Superfinal is a treat. Great games.
Yermo, visit Susan Polgar blog for 10 mins and you'll feel much better :)
Don't forget about Bronstein. I consider him a "virtual friend" way before the internet was invented.
Thank you for sharing the vacation pics Mig. These and the news of David Bronstein's passing remind us all that while chess is great fun, it is the people and the places that make life really worthwhile.
Yermo is my hero.
Thanks Yermo. It's good to know that like me, even GM's must vacuum the rug. It'll make my chores seem easier. I'm trying to mentally picture Alekhine clad in an apron wielding a feather duster, Lasker ( with a cheroot hanging from his maw ) pushing a lawnmower, Botvinnik scrubbing windows seriously.
HOLLA BACK!
Yermo is one of my favourite chess writers!!
Telling it just how it is... with no faking ;).
Playing top class OTB chess gives you a low tolerence level for slacking.
I read this somewhere today, and I found it interesting (it would never have occurred to me to look at the matter this way):
Bronstein was one of only four players who played at least one World Championship match and was never defeated.
(Not hard to figure out the other three; I won't spoil your fun.)
Fischer, Kramnik and Schlecter??
what about Leko?
Whoever wrote it forgot about Leko, and I did, too!
Well if we believe FIDE about the credibility of the KO's as the world championship, Leko did lose a world championship he participated in...
I dont think Kramnik played in a KO, did he?
Yes, I think he did. He was knocked out by someone in the rapids - possibly even our very own Mickey A.
I am pretty sure Kramnik played in Las Vegas. He beat Korchnoi in the first round (1.5-0.5) if I remember correctly. What then happened, I cannot recall.
Kramnik lost 2 games over the board to Topalov in Elista. It was not that long ago. He also lost two games to Leko in 2004. Leko lost 2 games to Kramnik in the same match. Fischer lost 2 games over the board to Spassky.
And indeed Schlechter lost a game to Lasker, but I take it we are speaking of being defeated in the match.
I was going to say it was quaint that three of the five never became champions but on reflection I suppose it's not quaint at all but inevitable, since if you become champion sooner or later you are going to lose a match, absent death or retirement.
Kramnik was knocked out by Adams in the Las Vegas quarterfinal 2-0 in the second (and thus I think blitz?) play off after two draws in classical and two in rapids.
Ponomariov?
Actually now that I think of it most of the FIDE champions except for Anand
Is that really Alex Yermolinsky? Good lord..