july 25th Blitz Tournament

[Alex_Moiseyev]

"Quiet, calm deliberation
Disentangles every knot !"

W. S. Gilbert.

Agree, 4 or 5 minutes to each player for 1 game will be better and easy compare with 3 minutes ... at least on first occasion.

Blitz and fast games are very nice, interesting and important forms of human intellectual activity.

[jaguar72]

"Always take your time when playing, even if you are in a book position and know the right move to make. Train yourself to take at least one minute on a move, and when you find yourself in a position which puzzles you, deliberate much longer and endeavor to create or discover some reason or objective for your next move."

William F. (Willie) Ryan
Scientific Checkers Made Easy (1938)

But that, of course, was just Willie's opinion and those old guys, you know, probably weren't very good players. What did they know?

Besides, if you did what he says it might get really, really boring and we wouldn't want that.

V/R As Always,

Gary Jenkins/jaguar72

[Mac Banks]

Hi Everyone,

In the 1970's , I was at a Florida open watching a game between North Carolina master Ed Scheidt and Marion
Tinsley. Marion was playing the white checkers and the opening was the "Octupus" . 1015 2117 7-10 17-14
1017 22-13 then Ed made the proper 11-16. Now it was Tinsley's move and I was recording the game. Ed was
leading the tourney and a draw would have given him the tourney and a win by Marion would win the tourney
for him. Well, Marion took 20 minutes on his next move and of course I couldn't understand why he too so long
before moving 23-19. Well the game went on for several hours and Marion finally won the ending. After the game, I had to ask Marion why he took so long to move with the strong side and then moved the
23-19 swap. Marion often shared play with me so he answered my question this way. "Mac,
I was not just looking at my next move, but was remembering all the times he had played Ed and what lines he had used throughout those games".

All the best,
Mac

[jaguar72]

Great, great story, Mr. Banks! The best.

Here's Tom Wiswell:

"Move in haste and get pent up later! Always take your time, Checkers is not a test of speed. No matter how good a move looks, don't rush to make it without carefully considering consequences. Even if you then decide that it is splendid, look again. There may be an even better move!"

Tom Wiswell and Jules Leopold
The Wonderful World of Checkers and Draughts
Chapter 26, Tips and Hints to Improve Your Game

That's Ryan, Wiswell, and Tinsley all in agreement... .

Case closed.

V/R,

Gary Jenkins/jaguar72

[Danny_Alvarez]

"Quiet, calm deliberation
Disentangles every knot !"

W. S. Gilbert.

Fantastic quote Liam i enjoyed it thank you

Great, great story, Mr. Banks! The best.

I agree totally Gary.

Mr Banks I am pretty sure you could write a book of checkers anecdotes on your own and if you ever do i would be glad to pre-purchase a copy Thank you so much for sharing with us, I personally am truly grateful.
Cheers
Danny

[Danny_Alvarez]

you should do it John, i am a fan of checkercycle and i am sure more checkers content cannot hurt....

I vote for you to do this, whenever possible i volunteer my services as your assistant

cheers
Danny

PS great idea

[BillyBoy]

Hi Jaguar, Thanks for the quotes you posted. I was wondering what time limit is considered a blitz game perhaps a blitz player can tell me this. I was playing a 2 minute game once to try this out and certain people said thats not blitz thats alot of time!! Personally I think anything less is more of a race then a game. I seen tables the clock was 1 minute and they was missing all kinds of stuff but it looked cool to watch. For me slow and mellow gives me a strong game. I think a blitz tournament is good for those who like it. I dont think some of them should do regular tournaments specially if a tournament player gets wind its a fast moving player it will be tourture time longest game they ever had lol. And if anyone is going to tell me about Eric Strange yes I know he was in Nationals I talked to him and yes I know he is a strong player and he does blitz. So im just saying its not for me totally not knocking it I have alot of friends that play it and seem to be strong. Just my opin on the topic. Billy

[Danny_Alvarez]

Kim if i may i will contribute my two cents worth....

I believe the main reasons of doing blitz is two attract the younger players from Kurnik who love short timers
I do hope that i am wrong but anything thats not 1/0 or 2/0 (longer timers than that) it will not be considered "blitz" by the target audience. So my advice is let's really hone in on the niche market we are going for, even if such timers make the rest of us uncomfortable to say the least.
well that is my opinion and i shall proceed to pat my own back for staying on topic LOL

cheers
Danny

[jaguar72]

Hi Jaguar, Thanks for the quotes you posted. I was wondering what time limit is considered a blitz game perhaps a blitz player can tell me this.
Billy

You are certainly welcome, Billy. Those great players knew a thing or two.

I have absolutely nothing against blitz, either checkers or chess. I like it (sometimes). But I neither think fast enough nor, if it's OTB, move quickly enough (or gracefully enough...) physically to be any good at it. By the time I've decided on my move, moved the piece and whacked the clock, the game's over and the opponent (usually some nine-year-old kid) is already gloating and putting an X in the win column... . And that's at even relatively slow blitz. Very disheartening.

Life in the fast lane it certainly isn't, but then I still use a slide rule (a very nice K & E Log-Log Duplex Decitrig 10") for most mathematical computations...go figure (however, the real slide rule aficionados - there are many, BTW - have speed problem solving contests; kind of like blitz math; it's amazing. I'm not good at that either).

Ah, well, I guess I got off topic again. But at least it's all blitz related in one form or another (more-or-less).

Sigh.

V/R,

Gary Jenkins/jaguar72

[Phil Bauer]

Chess is cowardly...you attack a piece and he runs away? Not a good example to teach people how to deal with conflict.
A checkers player deals with every threat through defense or killing that man. ...BTW Blitz should be 5 min. Anything less is a bit lame.
5 minutes each gives good players enough to time come up with a winning combination or move that wins the game...anything less is a race against the clock.
If you have it less than 5 minutes each then we might as well just see who can run up and down some stairs the fastest in a certain amount of time.
Racing the clock is for people chasing their feet(runners)...5 minutes each is enough time to create beautiful combinations over the board.


Just my opinion...

[Phil Bauer]

And before you ask...yes I played and studied chess for years. I was in a slump and I was looking at "other" mind games.
I found out that checkers makes you deal with every threat through defense or attacking that man. Since then I have been obsessed with checkers.
This happened recently so I am a newbie...and terrible. I am working on that though. If only I used those lost years for checkers study.
31 years old and starting checkers pretty much means I will never get good...but I will try.

[Phil Bauer]

I kind of got off topic there...ooops

5 minutes each is my vote and awesome job adding blitz to the Nationals.

[jaguar72]

"Quiet, calm deliberation
Disentangles every knot !"

W. S. Gilbert.

Great stuff, Liam!

V/R,

Gary Jenkins/trident75

[tommyc]

Dont say that Phil...................i was like 42 when i started [lookin a passtime really] and ive won quite a few Masters Ty events in Ireland,and have a cabinet of trophys from all sections,so dont be put off by yur young 31 yrs........sure yur only a nipper yet.

As matter of fact i might even claim a record [at least in Ireland/GB] of having the most different OPPONENTS in Ty play.I calculate i have a total of 165 different players at all ranges and levels that ive played in my draughts lifetime.Is this a European /irish/ gb /record?? Whatever way it is i enjoyed my journey for thats wat it is..........its not just a game,its much more important than that !!!.

[Danny_Alvarez]

Dont say that Phil...................i was like 42 when i started [lookin a passtime really] and ive won quite a few Masters Ty events in Ireland,and have a cabinet of trophys from all sections,so dont be put off by yur young 31 yrs........sure yur only a nipper yet.

As matter of fact i might even claim a record [at least in Ireland/GB] of having the most different OPPONENTS in Ty play.I calculate i have a total of 165 different players at all ranges and levels that ive played in my draughts lifetime.Is this a European /irish/ gb /record?? Whatever way it is i enjoyed my journey for thats wat it is..........its not just a game,its much more important than that !!!.

Congrats on that record Tommy ... and i agree that it is more than just a game... i agree 100% mate

As somebody a lot wiser than me has previously stated :

Thanks Bob, you're a special friend.
Thanks again to you Danny.
Alex's poll asks: What is checkers ?
He forgot to add a box for "A way to make good friends."

And i would have to agree with that statement too
cheers guys and i hope you have a great weekend.
Danny Alvarez