The SA Open was completed out our club venue this Saterday. I have put the top 10 results and everybody from our club that played (open section) at the end of this article. Congratulation to Watu for once again winning, and to Johan for getting a well deserved 4th, being the only player who managed to beat Watu.

 

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The halfway mark By Marius on 5/30/2008 11:43 AM We have reached, and passed the halfway mark in the league. Congratulations to the A team who has had a spectacular 6-0 win last night. Brooklyn B, by no mean the best team in the league, is certainly strong enough to have expected 2 points against a Centurion team who has not been firing on all cylinders. At least not until last night. Having seen only Elias' game, there's not much I can comment on, but 6-0... Wow. I'm sure we all hope that this marks the return to form of the A team. The Robot played the black side of the french (why does that sound dirty?), but far from the subtle manouvering that usually characterizes french middle games, it turned into a tactical monstrosity, with both sides going all out for the guy with the cross on top. Pretty impressive stuff, why don't you send it to me, I will post it here. Other results for last night; the b team lost 1-5 to Brooklyn A. Congrats to ... Read More » Comments (3) Marius' Blog

The "unfair" game By Marius on 5/16/2008 10:37 AM I have heard it said before that chess is an unfair game, and I've even felt so myself. But here is a game that has no roll of the dice, no lucky card draw, in fact, no element of randomness at all. Just your skill pitted against that of your opponent. What could be more fair than that? Right? But in this game you can make 40 master class moves, lose concentration for a split second, and throw it all away with one move. Fair? Maybe unforgiving is a better word. I'm sure Damian would agree with me, as I saw the helpless frustration on his face last night. It was not 40 moves (more like 14), and I'm sure not master class, but nevertheless he was clearly outclassing his opponent in the match between Centurion C and D teams. And then that split second; analyze a variation, and just too quickly, move the second move first. Unforgiving game. No worries Damian, this must have happened to everybody at some point, so no point beating yourself up. I for one can certainly i ... Read More » Comments (2) Marius' Blog

Dear Caissa ... By Marius on 5/9/2008 1:57 PM What have I ever done to you, you little bitch. I suppose the Centurion Open was just not enough for you, was it? Please tell me what have I done to deserve this. Why can't you punish people that are bad losers. Oh, ok, I know you did, but they just run away instead of admitting defeat. There's no justice in your world. If I had to make money from chess I would go to bed hungry every night. If I was quitter, I would have given up a long long time ago. I never expected to be one of the elite, but compared to most I think I'm throwing in my weight. So how about just a little improvement. If not that, can I least be allowed to beat people rated 300 points below me? That would be an improvement already. So what's the deal Caissa. Why do you hate me? Well I guess I shouldn't expect an answer. But let me tell you one thing. ... Read More » Comments (14) Marius' Blog

What's this "I don't wanna play anymore" ? By Marius on 5/5/2008 12:36 PM The annual Centurion Open was once again held this long weekend, and I think it can truly be said to have been a great success. Thanks to everybody that contributed to making it a success, especially Elise, who has once again outdone herself. Congratulation to 2 Centurion players that made us proud, Johan taking first, and Danie third. On the down side,  an unconfirmed number missing clocks has turned the tournament into a solid financial loss for us. I'm would like to question the morality of a clock thief, but why should I even bother. More interesting is to question the character of certain players. My question is what causes a high rated player (and certainly a contender for the top spot) to withdraw after losing 2 games in row. I know in kindergarten there was this "I'm not playing anymore" thing whe ... Read More » Comments (21) Marius' Blog

The battles have begun By Marius on 4/22/2008 3:53 PM So the league is off to rocky start for some teams, and particularly for the A team. The first week saw them losing to an outgunned Pretoria, and the second week... Well let's just say, it can only go up from here. The B team had a convincing win over Pretoria B in the first week. The C team stuttered to a 3.5 - 2.5 victory over Pretoria C in the first division. The D team won convincingly against TUT A, and the E team squeezed out a 3-3 draw. Last night the C team had another somewhat under par performance, scoring 3-3 against Kagiso, the only remarkable aspect being that black won every single game. Board 1 saw the home team blundering a piece on move 7, easy victory for us. Board 2 was a titanic battle, which ended in a rook blunder by the visitors. I had to look up as the inaptly named Robert Fischer Disemelo slammed his queen onto e1 shouting HA, and giving a satisfied laugh (white king o ... Read More » Comments (3) Marius' Blog

Eendag as ek groot is ... By JC on 4/21/2008 1:41 PM  ... wil ek soos hierdie ou speel Read More » Comments (0) Caissa's Garden

Preparing for a season By host on 4/16/2008 6:51 PM It's the time of year where the whole club get a burst of life. Old Faces apear , new ones join as teams are shuffeld , captains are preparing the board placements and ideas are shared on the wheres the whats and the hows. Silently in each mind the gameplans are formulated and startegies are thought through by players. Good luck to all the players! Croutch .....Engage .....Open....   DK- League 2008