Daily Rome Shot 713: You win some….

Bonus.

These are “scampi”, friends.

Here’s a puzzle.

White to move.  Mate in 2.

NB: I’ll hold comments with solutions ’till the next day so there won’t be “spoilers” for others.

Yesterday, in the last round of Norway, there was a show down for 1st between the leader, Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura, trailing by 2.5. A win would give Hikaru 3.0 to take the lead. Playing with the white pieces Hikaru stunned us by throwing a Fried Liver at Fabi! This is one of the oldest attacks around going back to 16th century Italy when it was known as the Fegatello, “dead meat”. Here’s a game from 1610 in Rome between Giulio Cesare Polerio and Domenico (Giovanni Domenico d’Arminio?). HERE  The attack clearly got Fabi off his game.

Caruana made a blunder at 17. … f5.  At this level that’s about all that’s needed.

I have to get ready and go play OBT so I can make blunders of my own.

I ask prayers for my mother and for myself and for a serious project.

BTW… for the first time in 16 years, Magnus did not win a single classical game in the entire tournament.

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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7 Comments

  1. TheCavalierHatherly says:

    So, having been curious as to the etymological origins of “scampo,” I have found that it is a Venetian word of Greek origin (makes sense), and is either derived from “kampé,” meaning “bent/bowed,” or “kampos,” meaning “sea monster.”

    Out of mere fancy I ahere to the latter derivation.

  2. Tony Pistilli says:

    I felt bad for Fabi, especially as Hikaru was somewhat obviously bored during the game. Chess is a cruel mistress.

  3. Tony: obviously bored

    Was it boredom? Or was it just Hikaru being a pressure cooker of ideas and energy. Almost the diametrical opposite of cool, reserved, Caruana.

    As for feeling bad for Fabiano Caruana, sure, I’ll bet that blunder and loss really smarts. A lot of time was invested, and money for his support. On the other hand, these are big boys at the top of the heap who have been doing this for a long time. I suspect he is mentally pretty tough.

    Hikaru annoys me most of the time on his stream. I can’t watch. The music, the constant repetition of phrases. Nope. However, when he focuses on a recap, he is very good. He’s an interesting cat, for sure.

  4. Suburbanbanshee says:

    Oh, and this is a very nice little video put together by the university chapel folks, when a fawn from the usual university herd came and settled on the chapel lawn for a bit:

    https://www.instagram.com/p/Cs6xhebgm7q/

    Our guy who was basically the paid layperson second-in-command is going to go teach school next fall, so please pray that they’ll find and hire another somebody really good.

    (And of course, if you’re really good, maybe apply.)

  5. Suburbanbanshee says:

    There’s a bunch of Holy Land pilgrimage pictures also, on the Instagram account. Pretty neat.

  6. Sue in soCal says:

    The comment about feeling badly for the losing player triggered a memory.
    My dad had me start playing chess very young; I would say that I was between 6 and 8 years old. He then proceeded to thrash me soundly every game, reducing me to tears. It ruined the game for me and I refused to play. I have not played since.
    I do admire those who do play but I have to admit that I usually skip over your chess commentary, [?!?!?] Fr. Z. I’m not sure why I read this one, but the Fried Liver caught my fancy.

  7. James C says:

    Goodness, Rome is expensive. I live in Liguria and we can get scampi for far, far less than €75 a kilo.

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