On Tuesday, August 3, 2021 at 6:30:25 AM UTC-4, Eli Kesef wrote:
> On Tuesday, August 3, 2021 at 1:46:18 AM UTC+3, William Hyde wrote:
> > On Monday, August 2, 2021 at 6:25:34 AM UTC-4, Eli Kesef wrote:
> > > On Monday, August 2, 2021 at 1:54:02 AM UTC+3, William Hyde wrote:
> > > > On Sunday, August 1, 2021 at 12:42:07 PM UTC-4, Eli Kesef wrote:
> > > > > Bs"d
> > > > >
> > > > > So the enemy played a Caro-Kann against me: https://lichess.org/qwLeBRMzyYlJ so I released upon him my Caro-Kann trap.
> > > > Many years ago Al Horowitz won a tournament game basically the same way. I have won many
> > > > speed games with this line.
> > > Bs"d
> > >
> > > A kindred spirit who loves to play trappy gambits!
> > > > Nc3 is not a trap, but a perfectly fine move with a drop of poison
> > > > in it. Black can easily get into trouble - even if he doesn't crash and burn as this guy did, there are other ways to go wrong.
> > > > It worked better then usual. The enemy, an 1800 player, stopped my first attempt to mate him with my queen, by blocking the mate with a pawn, which right away attacked my queen.
> > > > > So I ignored the attack on my queen, and threatened mate with a bishop of mine. The enemy overlooked the second mate, and took queen.
> > > > > Then I mated him on move 10.
> > > > >
> > > > > Does anybody here think it is unethical to play opening traps?
> > > > No. And the above is no trap. Your opponent could have looked the line up before playing it. Failing that, how is he going to learn if you don't teach him lessons? I assume he won't be falling for this line again, and may try Nc3 himself in future.
> > > I like it very much to educate those people who are ignorant, if not of that trap, than that line with a drop, or maybe a bucket, of poison in it. (isn't that what is called a 'trap'?)
> > The above Mr Horowitz, along with Fred Reinfeld, once wrote a book called:
> >
> > "Chess Traps, Pitfalls and Swindles" which, among other things, attempts to distinguish between
> > these three categories.
> >
> > It is not a book about opening traps (though there are a few) so don't buy (or download) it expecting
> > to add to your armory. But it is a fun book.
> Bs"d
>
> That book is standing right here, in my chess book collection.
> > It was the first real chess book I studied, and has had a certain effect on my play ever since, even
> > though I am basically a positional player. Of the three categories the swindle is the one I use
> > most, since that can only come from a lost position, and I get plenty of lost positions.
> >
> > You find it fun turning an even game into a win with an opening trap. It's twice as much fun turning
> > a lost game into a win. But first you have to get a lost game, which is not fun. But I am a natural
> > at it.
> I think I have the solution for that one, for getting lost positions. What I advise is that you only play against opponents who are at least 200 points weaker than you, that makes a big difference in the amount of lost positions you'll get.

I was a pretty good speed player at one point, circa 2000. But then I moved to a small town where there
were few players at my level, and they didn't play often. When I returned home two years later I discovered
that I was now a really crappy speed player. It took me six months to get rid of the bad habits acquired
playing only weaker opponents and regain my 2000 strength.

Many years later my last tournament game was against a player 150 points weaker. I was nowhere in the opening, just dozed while he gained more and more space. Eventually he won a piece. I can easily get lost
positions against weaker players. Sometimes it's like I am not really at the board.

I considered resigning, but this was g/120 and he had only twenty five minutes to win the game. Admittedly, I had only ten (I moved both badly and slowly). He got a bit too ambitious, I sacked
a knight, won a ton of material and the game. It was a satisfying win - somehow it is especially
fun to sacrifice material when you are already down - but a poor game.

But there was a lesson there. When you have won material, it's time for a little caution. One
consolidating move by him, moving his rook from a8 to c8 or d8, and I'd have had no play. Instead,
eager to win, he began a pawn advance which weakened his centre.

William Hyde