Photo by The Great Roman™
Welcome registrant:
Biketripper
Meanwhile – and happy St. Nicholas day – this was from yesterday.
This explains quite a bit, as do the real Grimm’s tales.
Careful out there tonight for it’s #Krampusnacht! Popular in German-speaking Alpine folklore, the figure of #Krampus is a devil-like horned creature who punishes badly-behaved children the night before St Nicholas’ Day. More Krampus cards here: https://t.co/aOoGjLz0iF pic.twitter.com/IxgbKfwjd5
— The Public Domain Review (@PublicDomainRev) December 5, 2023
Meanwhile, white to move and mate in 4. Good luck.
1. Qc3+ Bxc3 2. Rd6+ Qxd6 Ng4+ Ke6 4. f5#
NB: I’ll hold comments with solutions ’till the next day so there won’t be “spoilers” for others.
Speaking of moving, do you need to, want to move?
Have you been following Eccles’ Advent calendar on X/Twitter?
In chessy news, Michael Adams is the sole leader in London and four are tied for second, including Gukesh and the rather unlikeable Niemann. FIDE issued a “clarification” about what tournaments count for circuit points and a lot of players are seriously irritated at the lack of transparency. FIDE imposed that x number of tournaments had to be in different countries after the phenom of Ding Liren playing about a million games in a month all in China to be able to qualify by rating in the Candidates in Madrid that led to his beating Nepo for the ultimate egg roll. Former champ Garry Kasparov has a new Kasparov Chess Foundation Academy. And why not? He has some strong players… I hope they are good teachers… working with him on courses at three levels.
Yesterday, with black I had a long OTB conflict with The Club’s Leader™. He threw his own line of the Queen’s Gambit (Declined) at me again, which involves an irritating, but ultimately ill-advised, pawn rush on the queen’s side which I have analyzed and learned to punish. But, he’s a crafty one, yes, crafty he is. I got into some trouble and went down a piece when his tragic queen became involved on my side of the board. However, I spotted my chance and, realizing that Her Tragicness didn’t have a lot of squares, I plotted my revenge. I trapped that nasty piece and then, realizing that I could take one of his minor pieces without unspringing the trap, I gained back my material and delivered the queenly coup de grace on the next move. In the end game, in the two rook and opposite bishop endgame, I just outplayed him. Forcing our rooks off the board after he allowed his bishop to be pinned to his doomed monarch. Addio, Eccellenza! He had a passer on the a file, but I still had my bishop. There was no way he could promote. With my kingside four on three and a more active king, plus the piece, he resigned on move 38. Here’s a shot of where I prevailed. Black to move.
I figured that if instead of taking he went 2. Rc2 Ra3 3. h4 Kd6 he still is toast.
”Chess helps you to concentrate, improve your logic. It teaches you to play by the rules and take responsibility for your actions, how to solve problems in an uncertain environment.”
Garry Kasparov
Speaking of solving problems in an uncertain environment, today is a thin day for monthly donations. It would be a great day to sign up, via PayPal, or Zelle through your online banking, which doesn’t take fees. How about it? Can I get, say, 5 more today? Depending, that’s like a bag of groceries!
UPDATE:
Even as I wait for a few additional monthly donors, a loud shout of thanks to a “St. Nicholas Day” donor
JTA
Thank you. I have no way to write an email to you.
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1. Ng4+ Ke6
2. f5+ Kd6
3. Qf4#
Doesn’t that work in three? At least I didn’t teleport my queen this time, lol.
Oh, wow, the knight is pinned. *facepalm*
“But, he’s a crafty one, yes, crafty he is. ”
Tried to steal it, he did. Sneaky, wicked little hobbitses.
Dustin: He is rather hobbitish, come to think of it.
Frankly, I thought someone would go the Yoda route with this one. Instead, it’s kinda… Yodlum.
So, in this metauniverse, Yoda gets the Ring.
1. Qc3+ Bxc3
2. Rd6+ Qxd6
3. Ng4+ Ke6
4. f5#
Ah, that’s better (I think). Powered by lunchtime moussaka.
Back at Martinmas, I ran into some eighty-to-a-hundred-year-old Dutch newsreel footage of St. Martin visiting the Catholic school children – he had a quiet-looking assistant… Chasing around through the English and German Wikipediae, I read in ” St. Martin’s Day” that “In the Swabia and Ansbach regions of Germany, a character called Pelzmärten (‘pelt Martin’ or ‘skin Martin’) appeared at Martinmas until the 19th century. With a black face and wearing a cow bell, he ran about frightening children, and he dealt out blows as well as nuts and apples” – while “Martinstag” suggests that in largely-Protestant areas, Pelzmärtel / Pelzmartin/ Nussmärtel brings Martinmas gifts. St. Martin’s assistant in the newsreel did not seem like this, or like Krampus, or like St. Nicholas’s classic Moorish helpers.
Not surprisingly, Krampus has ‘gotten out of hand’ in recent years, as the English Wiipedia articles “Krampus” and “Krampus in popular culture” attest.
Meanwhile, Happy St. Nicholas! There are lots of interesting mediaeval Latin St. Nicholas works (including sung plays) on YouTube thanks to Schola Hungarica; Studio der Frühen Musik, Schola Cantorum Basiliensis and Ensemble Vocale Guillaume Dufay; and Anonymous 4, plus St. Godric of Finchale’s English carol in various performances – and his Wikipedia article shows the manuscript so we can follow along!
There really is a strange mania surrounding previously long-forgotten Christmas villains. Krampus clearly had to have been Dr. Seuss’ template for The Grinch, right down to the appearance. Now apparently there is a new Grinch musical, and an advertisement for it showed a second monstrous assistant (the first being the dog, oddly played by a human), that I don’t recall seeing in previous media, watching the main character steal presents. I had no idea what it was supposed to be, but in hindsight, it seems to bear an interesting resemblance to the above description of “pelt Martin”. Meanwhile, it seems Niemann is actively embracing a role as “chess villain”. That sort of thing, as Heath Ledger’s Joker showed, can be psychologically dangerous – perhaps prayers are in order?
My current U.S. state officially “turns to the dark side” tomorrow. There is a forty-hour fast happening that, due the nature of my employment and having to work a full day tomorrow, it would probably be in my better judgment only to approximate. Those who can, should be encouraged.
In happier news, daily mass on St. Nicholas Day brought a surprise opportunity to venerate a relic of St. Joseph. His patronage is sorely needed. Deo gratias!
1. Q-h5 (threatening Q-f5# or Q-e5#)
If . . . . . . . Q-e6
2. Q-h4 . . g7-g5
3. Q×g5 #
If . . . . . . . Q×f2×
2. K- h1 . . Q×f4
3. g3×f4 . . B×f4 (to prevent Q-e5#)
4. R-d6#
But if
3. . . . . . . . Q-f3+
4. Q×f3
Not mate in 4, but mate soon ensues following much the same pattern after Q-g4.
..
Ng4+, Ke6
Pf5+, Kd6
Rxd2+, Rxd2
Qf4 mate
Oops. No