Hello.

Since I will win my 1400's (since I should be among the top 20) group
without difficulty I wonder what, except honor, the winner will get. Are
you going to post in the profile a little attachment saying 'winner
1400's 2nd rhp tournament' or how do you plan to do that?

Regards, humble Nils.

I am sorry to disappoint you, Nils, but you are goint to face tough
competition. Mind you, all top players passed through the 1400 club.
You perhaps, others I know.
sin (who does not really know but speculates)

Nil,
I read your profile just now and when you signed up. What goes in
your profile is up to you. I , if not Dave, will make a post in the
tournament forum about all the division champs as they win their
division and at the end of the tournament.
Honors are great, winning is great. Good Luck in your games and
may you find what you are looking for here at Red Hot Pawn. I play
occasionally at Gamecolony. My rating there is just about 200 higher
than here.
John
Assistant TD Baker Invitational Knockout Tournament

Thank you. Then I know what'll happen when I win my group.

//Nils

First off Nil...i like the positive attitude...but you got a lot of tough
cookies to crumble before you can get that title....tenebr8...my
pupil...being one.

But whoever wins their division gets that title untill we hold another.

Dave
KO TD

🙂
I was gonna say something, but I'm glad you did it for me. Looks
like our friend has the record to back up his words so far-- looks to be
a tough competitor. But I will give him the best games I can, should
we come up against each other.
Tim
The Dark Squire

Tim...email me real quick...need to talk to you about something.

Dave

You've got mail, boss.

Hm..I'm really looking forward to see if I can hold what I have
promised, I will not fail. I have already beaten one of the top 20 and I
will be up there- and I would- if you all wouldn't play so many
games 😀. Seems to me that I have to be a pawn star. I'm thinking
about it but since I'm a student with limited economy plus the fact
that I am in between gameknot and this superb place.

Tenebr8- You may have schliemann as tutor but I am backed up by
botvinnik, ståhlberg and nimzowitsch. They lay in my head waiting to
awaken.

Looking forward not only to crush your pupil herr schliemann- I'm
looking forward crushing you.

Auf widersehen //Nils

I have been studying Nimzo for a VERY long time...actually the second
chess book I ever owned..and on my fourth copy now of My
System...they keep wearing out on me...because every time I look at
it I always find something new..or see something in a different light.

I own Botvinnik's 50 Years of Chess and have been studying his
games since I was a kid...especially his comeback match vs Tal in
62...when he completely took Mikhail out of his attacking mode.

As for the tourney...good luck.

Dave
KO TD
Beaten before...but NEVER crushed

"Crush" me. Hmmm.... That could, indeed, happen. I have been
crushed by opponents before. But talking about it before it has
happened? In America, we call this "trash talk," and it generally takes
place on basketball courts, a form of psychological warfare to go along
with the game. OTB, it might actually have an effect. In
correspondence chess (in fact, in all forms of chess), emotions are too
costly-- they have cost me a few games. I am getting better at
leaving my emotions out of it-- if I get angry at myself for making a
blunder, I no longer beat myself up for it, but try to focus harder so
that the same mistake will not be repeated. You mention some
excellent "teachers;" I, too, have some excellent ones, Dave being
first and foremost. But my greatest teachers have been Time,
Experience, and Life. I look forward to our game, regardless of its
outcome. I hope you can say the same. If you lose, can you still
say, "Damn, that was a truly enjoyable game"?

By the way, my rating at Gameknot is somewhere in the 1100's,
because I don't take those games as seriously as I do the ones
here. Ratings don't mean much, in the end. Striving, improving--
these are what matters.
Tim
The Dark Squire

Once again Tim you as a writer comes out in shining form. Me being
first and foremost as a teacher for you makes me proud. But the
other teachers you mention far outweigh any little trap, opening,
endgame knowledge, tactical shot,...basically anything that I can show
in the land of 64 squares.

They have taught me alot as well in the short 30 years that I have
known them....and I will always be a student of them.

And yes rating really means nothing...just an extension of ego...kinda
like owning a corvette.

It means a little to me...since I have earned the right to sit where I
do...but #2 or #12 or #50...I get more out of watching the people I
teach do good...if I just concentrated on my games..I would have
been #1 a looooong time ago.

Thanks Tim.

Dave

Dave, if the only thing I ever learned from you was to take pleasure in
the victories and progress of others, that would be more than
enough. I haven't punched the wall after losing a game since I
started my lessons with you! (And yes, I HAVE done that in the past.)
A beautiful combination is a beautiful combination, whether you are
the engineer of it or the victim of it. Chess is NOT, as some say, "just
a game." It is far more than that. But winning and losing-- those
terms apply only to games. As you said, "An extension of ego."
Peace--
Tim
The Dark Squire

If you are a positional and strategic player you can escape. Pray that
you do not rely on tactics to beat me.

About psychological warfare- yep that's me 😉.

Not to be taken too seriously, Nils.