Daily Rome Shot 689

9 Comments

1. waalaw says:

   13 March 2023 at 3:36 AM

   B-e5
   Black’s queen has no safe place to go.
   Amazing how thoroughly these chess problems are constructed!
   At best, Black responds Rxe8, but
   2. Bxd6 leaves white with an a net gain on the exchange.
2. Imrahil says:

   13 March 2023 at 6:59 AM

   Nice picture, but it doesn’t look like what I perceived as reality at all. In fact, I perceived a marked uniformity in Italy where coffee is concerned. There are only three options, and each in their rather marked areas:

   1. “Un caffè” at home. This is one espresso-sized shot made by the thing called caffetiera by the Italians, and apparently “moka pot” by everyone else. (You do not buy a fancy espresso machine for your household. Baristi want to live too.)

   2. “Un caffè” at a bar. This is an espresso made by a fancy espresso machine at a very reasonable price. (The prices for the important things, like coffee, fontanella water, house-wine, pizza standing and internet connection, tend to be cheap.)

   3. A cappuchino, but only in the morning as a breakfast. (The authorities say that it should not be ordered after 9:30, but I think when you have a chance to sleep in and do not leave your house before 10:30, it’s a borderline case.)

   So, except for choosing whether to break your fast with a cappuchino or an espresso if you are at a bar, you don’t have any choice at all.

   [In the seeming lack of a sense of humor in these matters, I’ll simply add my dissenting voice and warmly disagree with your objection. You do hear great variety in bars, as a matter of fact, if not from every customer.]
3. WVC says:

   13 March 2023 at 7:46 AM

   Is it:

   1. Be5?

   This sets up the Queen for capture. If:
   . . . . Qxe5

   Then White is set up for mate with Rxf8.
4. Neal says:

   13 March 2023 at 7:55 AM

   1. Be5
5. Philmont237 says:

   13 March 2023 at 1:18 PM

   In the US it’s more like each person would have their own extremely complicated order like, “A venti pumpkin spice latte with eight shots of espresso, seven pumps of pumpkin sauce, one pump of maple pecan sauce, extra whipped cream instead of foam, and caramel drizzle.”
6. donato2 says:

   13 March 2023 at 8:14 PM

   I haven’t been in Italy since 2015 but when I was there then I heard an Italian woman order a soy latte at a “bar” in the Rome train station. But in the years when I was there more often what I observed was more along the lines of what Imrahil describes, except among my father’s relatives the thing that coffee is made with at home on the stovetop is called la macchinetta. I read some years ago the obituary of the Italian businessman, Renato Bialetti, who was responsible for the widespread use in Italian homes of the “macchinetta.” The widespread sales began in the 1950s. I gathered from that that before the 1950s Italians had coffee only at a “bar.”
7. Sportsfan says:

   14 March 2023 at 3:52 AM

   Why would they say, “Si, grazie” all over the world?
8. threej says:

   14 March 2023 at 8:12 PM

   I don’t think it’s Be5. Black just responds with:
   BxF5.
   If BxD6, then BxC2. When BxC5 all you’ve done is traded material.

   If White tries to get fancy and QxF5 (instead of BxD6), then Q-D1!, g1-g2, a8xe8.
9. Fr. John Zuhlsdorf says:

   14 March 2023 at 9:46 PM

   My take…

   1. Qd2 Qxd2
   2. Rxf8#

   1… Bxf5
   2. Qxd6 Raxe8
   3. Qxh6+ Kg8
   4. Qxg7#)

   Some suggested
   1. Be5 which I think is massively losing to black’s Bxf5
   2. Bxd6 Bxc2
   3. Rxf8+ Rxf8
   4. Bxf8 Ne6

   black is up a piece and white can’t defend the pawns from that ravenous light square Bishop

   5. Bb2 c5
   6. g4 Bb1
   7. f4 Bxa2
   8. g5 Bxb3
   9. gxh6 Bxc4
   10 f5 b3
   11. fxe6 b2
   12. e7 b1=Q+
   13. Kh2 Qe4
   14. Bxc5 gxh6
   15. Kg3 Bb5
   16. Bb6 Qe1+ etc.