is the current host of the show Hardball at MSNBC (http://www.msnbc.com/hardball). I have been watching, reading, and listening, to Chris since he appeared as a regular on The McLaughlin Group (https://www.mclaughlin.com/). I have read three of his books, which are excellent:
I sincerely regret the lack of knowledge shown with the earlier post. One lives and hopefully, learns. Life is like Chess in that one must be honest about mistakes and, hopefully, correct them, so as to not make the same mistake again. It is more than a little obvious I should have researched the origin of the song before firing a hardball salvo at Chris Matthews, whom I admire and respect. This is my attempt at a heartfelt apology due Chris Matthews. It is I who should have run it by Ari Melber before firing the salvo.
During one of the segments on the MSNBC program Hardball, the host, Chris Mathews, mentioned something about a song by “Jackson Browne with the line about seven women.”
Chris, my man, you need to run song lyrics by Ari Melber before mentioning it on air. The song in question is:
Take It Easy
Eagles
Produced by Glyn Johns
Album: Eagles
Well, I’m running down the road
Tryin’ to loosen my load
I’ve got seven women on
My mind
Four that wanna own me
Two that wanna stone me
One says she’s a friend of mine
Take It easy, take it easy
Don’t let the sound of your own wheels
Drive you crazy
Lighten up while you still can
Don’t even try to understand
Just find a place to make your stand
And take it easy
Well, I’m a standing on a corner
In Winslow, Arizona
And such a fine sight to see
It’s a girl, my Lord, in a flatbed
Ford slowin’ down to take a look at me
Come on, baby, don’t say maybe
I gotta know if your sweet love is
Gonna save me
We may lose and we may win though
We will never be here again
So open up, I’m climbin’ in
So take it easy
Well I’m running down the road trying to loosen
My load, got a world of trouble on my mind
Lookin’ for a lover who won’t blow my
Cover, she’s so hard to find
Take it easy, take it easy
Don’t let the sound of your own
Wheels make you crazy
Come on baby, don’t say maybe
I gotta know if your sweet love is
Gonna save me, oh oh oh
Oh we got it easy
We oughta take it easy
finished with a score of 5 1/2 out of 9, which included the upset win over Sengupta in the first round and three draws with GM’s. He drew with Black against GM Alexander Cherniaev (2436) in the second round; Alexandr Fier, with White, in the penultimate round; and Bogdan Lalic (2415),
also playing White, in the last round. Mr. Taylor’s performance rating was 2452, over 200 points higher than his FIDE rating.
After his first round draw with GM Daniel Gormally in round one Kim Yew Chan (2299) beat an FM with Black in the second round. Then the wheels came off as he first lost to GM Alexander Cherniaev with White in the third round. He drew with the Black pieces versus a player rated 1961, Mikolaj Rogacewicz, in the fourth round before losing to a titled woman player rated only 1993 WFM Rasa Norinkeviciute in the fifth round. Unable to take the woman’s Chess punch, he withdrew. His PR was only 2151.
GM Jens Kristiansen (2415),
playing White, managed to draw a long game versus John N Sugden (2059). The GM is sixty five years young, showing fighting spirit the above named players who agreed to quick draws should envy, if not emulate. There is no shame in a game of 70+ moves which ends in a hard fought draw, unlike the aforementioned gentlemen with short drawers.
Jonah B Willow (2152), with the Black pieces, beat Brian Hewson (2007) in the last round. He also won the previous round game to finish with a flourish. Unfortunately the games between his opening round draw with GM Kristiansen and the penulitmate round were not kind to Mr. Willow.
The Najdorf was my weapon in the 1970’s. Like many other players who also played The Najdorf, Bobby Fischer had a tremendous influence on making The Najdorf my weapon in the 1970’s. Returning to Chess from years of playing Backgammon professionally I no longer played The Najdorf simply because of not having the time to keep up with the ever changing and developing theory of the opening. The Najdorf is so much more than just an opening; it is an opening SYSTEM. Players who challenge The System have thrown EVERYTHING against it, yet The System prevails. The System works unless and until someone screws up The System more than Donald J. Trump has screwed up the US system of government. GM Gormally’s handling of The System is such an example.
One thing learned from my time attempting to play The Najdorf is that many of the same moves feature in The System. What is important is WHEN they are played, and in what ORDER. Once one learns The System the moves sort of fall into place as one gets a “feel” for what to play and when to play it. The first thing that hit me when playing over the game was that the move 7…Qc7 is not good because White can obtain a very good position by taking the Knight immediately, playing 8 Bxf6. I never played anything other than 7…Be7. I studied other ways of playing without the move, but found none appealing. Deep refused to play the best move and played 8 Qf3, cutting the Gorm much slack. Unfortunately, the Gorm once again refused to play Be7. When he did finally play Be7 on his ninth move it was the wrong move. He should have played 9…b5. Gormally never played b5. The reason one plays a3 in the Najdorf is to follow with the move b5 ASAP. If one is not going to play b5 then one should not attempt playing The System known as the Najdorf. Frankly, this is a pitiful effort by GM Gormally, especially considering it was the last round. The way he played The Najdorf System resembles something a player learning The Nadjorf System might produce, not something one would expect from a long time veteran like the Gorm. I continue reading his fine book, Insanity, passion and addiction: a year inside the chess world, with his constant comments questioning why he continues playing Chess. After this game the Gorm needs to do some SERIOUS soul searching. Maybe he should get a job, or become one of the GM’s he writes about who stay home and give lessons via the internet.
A recent article on Chessbase, Morocco Chess Federation hit with corruption troubles, by Diana Mihajlova, dated 12/9/2017, begins:
“The Royal Morocco Chess Federation has been in discord since members of its governing body raised the alarm over impropriety on the part of its leadership, including the disappearance of the equivalent of $200,000 US Dollars. Diana Mihajlova reports on a host of allegations which have beset the federation’s president Mustapha Amazzal.”
This is “Part one of a two-part chronicle.” It continues:
12/9/2017 – The Royal Morocco Chess Federation has been in discord since members of its governing body raised the alarm over impropriety on the part of its leadership, including the disappearance of the equivalent of $200,000 US Dollars. Diana Mihajlova reports on a host of allegations which have beset the federation’s president Mustapha Amazzal. Part one of a two-part chronicle.
It continues:
An uphill battle
“It comes as no surprise that people in power sometimes cannot resist abusing their position for personal benefit. Often, even when detected, the culprits operate with impunity amid comparatively powerless opposition. The sports world is rife with examples, and chess is no exception. In recognition of International Anti-Corruption Day we take a look at a story of a chess federation in turmoil, as its leadership is accused of exploiting the very players it is entrusted to represent.”
There is a reason “…the culprits operate with impunity amid comparatively powerless opposition.”
The reason is that the governing body of World Chess, FIDE, is a completely corrupt organization. For TWO DECADES FIDE has turned a blind eye to the corruption in the Royal Morocco Chess Federation because an investigation into Moroccan corruption could lead into an investigation of FIDE corruption.
From the article: “Among the serious charges are the expropriation of federation funds, players poached or replaced between competing chess clubs without consent or remuneration, suspensions on individual players and clubs without due process or cause, misappropriation of chess sets and clock grants by FIDE, fraudulent submission of arbiter certifications, failure to submit tournament ratings to FIDE, and general cronyism.”
I love the last part about “general cronyism!” Don’t you? Those two words nicely sum up FIDE.
The article continues:
“The chief target of these allegations is the president of the FRME, Mustapha Amazzal (pictured at right).”
More from the article:
“According to International Arbiter Zoheir Slami, a complaint against Amazzal has been filed before the Court of Appeal of Casablanca by the Moroccan Association for the Protection of the Public Money, headed by Mohammed El Ghaloussi. The prosecutor overseeing the case has referred the investigation to the National Brigade of the Judicial Police (BNJP), which tackles serious national crimes.”
Seeing the word Casablanca naturally brought back memories of one of my favorite movies, Casablanca. One of the main players in the movie was an ex-patriate American, Rick, or Richard Blaine, the owner of Rick’s Cafe Americain,
played by one of the all-time great actors, Humphrey Bogart, who also happened to be an avid Chess player who, it is written, played for money in New York city during one of the all too frequent depressions caused by capitalist economic policies.
Armchair Warrior 