Candy Man (1997-03-21)

Candy Man 640x480x16M color JPEG
(Click to enlarge image.)

"White square on your right side, or 'white on right', and 'queen on color', which means that the black queen goes on the black square."

Well, I watched them push wood for a while, and went home to get Mabellene, my chess set. I've had it since 1973. When I came back to the Scene of the Crime, I was carrying a black, nylon bag that looked like those cases that pool hustlers use to carry their prized cue. I put it in the corner and watched them finish their game.

Then I cleared the table, and set the case in the center. When I opened it, his jaw dropped. The two-faced chess clock is held in the center with velcro straps. There are bulging, zippered pockets on either side, one for the black pieces, and one for the white. Running the length of the case is a cardboard tube, also held in place by velcro straps.

I removed the cardboard tube, and unrolled a cream colored vinyl chessboard with green squares and numbers and letters on all of the sides. I explained that this was a Regulation Board, with 2¼ inch squares. Then I pulled out the pieces and pointed out that the king was 3½ inches high, also Regulation. He picked up a piece, and realized that although the pieces were plastic, they were weighted and had felt pads on the bottom.

He drew white, and we set up the board. I pulled out my trusty old Chessplayer's Scrorebook, and wrote down the date and our names. He said. "What, you're going to write this game down?" I said, "I always record my games," in the same tone of voice as if I were saying, "I always wash my hands after using the toilet."

The first two moves we made were fairly inoccuous, but on his third move, I sat and thought for a long time, and then announced, "OK, I'm gonna teach you a lesson," moved my queen, and called, "Check!"

My fifth move was check-mate.

	1. N-KB3   P-QB4
	2. P-Q3    N-QB3
	3. B-K3    Q-QR4+
	4. Q-Q2    N-QN5
	5. Q-Q1    NxP/QB7#

Needless to say, he couldn't believe it, so I showed it to him again, and said "And that is why I record all of my games." I did not tell him that I had fallen victim to that trap in a tournament game 20 years ago!

He asked for a rematch, and played black for 46 moves before I stopped recording the game because it was a simple queen-rook endgame, the kind of thing I had watched the two of them drag out for 15 minutes because neither of them knew how to force mate on a clear board with a queen and a rook. <sigh!>

Anywho, I dug out some of my old games, and found my first tournament win, the third game of my first tournament in Rochester, NY on 1973-09-08. I was playing black against a player rated 1243, and he resigned on his 33rd move. I think I'll play through it again, and make a 3D picture of the board with the position where he resigned.

Aw, hell ... what I really should do is write a program to read a game like I've typed it here and show the final board position. I mean, I did it in several languages about twenty years ago, so why not do it again in Java? I never did get around to translating the FORTRAN to C.

That is all I have to say for now. -=DAH=- 1997-03-21

This site hosted by Virtual Water Holes™