If you're wondering about the title to the diary, it's because that match actually happened at one time. In 2000, chess champion Garry Kasparov faced off against Sting, the frontman for The Police at ABC Studios in New York. It's true. I've got the photos in the diary to prove it! It was an exhibition match as part of the World School Chess Championship. They even broadcast the match on the Jumbotron at Times Square. As you might expect, the chess champ beat the rock star in 44 moves. Kasparov was probably taking it easy.
Why is this relevant? Well first of all, it's kinda funny. But more importantly, two of our very own Kossacks played in a tournament match yesterday in which the opening was eerily similar to that match. Analysis is below.
As always, this is a chess tourney open thread. Upcoming match info, along with updated standings and results through Round 2, are after the jump.
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DKOS CHESS TOURNAMENT 2009: ROUND 2 (June 21-28)
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UPCOMING MATCHES
papicek vs. Celtic Merlin on Chess.com, Thursday 6/25 @ 8:30 PM ET.
rhutcheson vs. hekebolos on Chess.com, Thursday 6/25 @ 10 PM ET.
JeffLieber vs. mnguy66 on Chess.com, Friday 6/26 @ 9:30 AM ET.
Crawdaddy vs. Blue Wind on Chess Cube, Saturday 6/27 @ 11 AM ET.
Patch Adam vs. bgblcklab1 on Chess.com, Saturday 6/27 @ 12 PM NOON ET.
Andrew Lazarus vs. Robert Naiman on FICS, Saturday 6/27 @ 12 PM NOON ET.
Twin Planets vs. kto9 on Chess.com, Sunday 6/28 @ 12 PM NOON ET.
To the chess players: Please post your match info (time and place) so I can update the diary.
To the community: If you would like to watch an upcoming match, you will first need to register for an account on the website where the game is taking place, then log in. You can observe the games on Chess.com by opening Live Chess (under the Play tab at the top of the main page) and finding the user of your choice. On FICS, type "observe [INSERT USER'S NAME HERE]" into the command console. On Chess Cube, add the user you're looking for as a friend, click on that user's profile, and observe the game he/she is playing. On Yahoo! Games, you will need to know which room/lounge the user is playing in -- then just enter it and sit at the table.
See more information about using these websites here.
ANALYSIS: dmet (WHITE) vs. Cobbler (BLACK)
Quite an unusual opening to a chess match. White began with the Benko Opening -- 1. g3, followed by the Bishop fianchetto at 2. Bg2 -- and Black countered with a modified Indian Defense with 1...Nf6 and 2...e5. The opening sequence 1. g3 Nf6 2. Bg2 e5 3. d3 is EXACTLY identical to the Kasparov-Sting match of 2000. Kasparov played as White at the time -- would White prevail a second time around?
White declined the open e5 Pawn at move 5, instead opting to castle King-side to protect against the Bishop-Knight combined attack on f2. However, with a Black Knight-White Bishop exchange at move 7, Black had already begun to solidify the middle of the board. The first questionnable move appeared when White played 16. Qa4 -- White was not in a position to threaten the a7 Pawn with the Black Queen holding down the fort. Just one move prior, instead of threatening the Bishop with 15. a3, White could have also defended his c4 Pawn with 15. b3. The sequence of moves following 16. Qa4 (...Nc5 17. Qc2 dxc4 18. dxc4 e4 19. Ne5 Bxg5) led to the capture of a White Knight.
Black would win a Pawn with 21...Bxe5 22. bxc5, and with the advance of the Black Pawn to e3, White's e2 Pawn was trapped, never to advance even once in the contest. It also prevented the White King from escaping to f2 to avoid the oncoming and fatal double Rook attack on the g file.
Had this been the outcome of the Kasparov v. Sting match in 2000, Sting would have been the victor. I wonder what song Sting would have been singing afterwards if he had beaten one of the greatest chess players of our generation. Add your ideas in the comment section below, and I'll add them to a Grooveshark widget tomorrow.
KASPAROV VS. STING, 2000 (PHOTOS)
MATCH-UPS AND RESULTS
The match-ups for Round 2 have been selected by the Tournament Director based on the results of Round 1 and the approximate skill rating of each player. All matches will have a 30-minute time limit per player, 0 bonus time. Every effort is being ensured to maintain color balance. In other words, every player will have the opportunity to play as both White and Black throughout the tournament.
WHITE | vs. | BLACK | WINNER |
hanswall | vs. | cschess | cschess |
MakeChessNotWar | vs. | PedsNeuro | MakeChessNotWar |
writerkirk | vs. | PsiFighter37 | . |
AndrewMC | vs. | vets74 | vets74 |
ericledford | vs. | Albanius | . |
ben masel | vs. | thereisnospoon | ben masel |
montrealdan | vs. | cavebird | montrealdan |
DynamicUno | vs. | Sharkmeister | Sharkmeister |
Abelian | vs. | Kimball | Abelian |
brendanm98 | vs. | TeacherRyan | TeacherRyan |
dmet | vs. | Cobbler | Cobbler |
BTP | vs. | mquander | mquander |
i know | vs. | ActivistGuy | i know |
RickMassimo | vs. | lostboyjim | RickMassimo |
Twin Planets | vs. | kto9 | . |
ferrisbueller | vs. | wmorriss | . |
Andrew Lazarus | vs. | Robert Naiman | . |
Melanchthon | vs. | dov12348 | . |
Seneca Doane | vs. | high5 | high5 |
PinkFreud | vs. | Keith Pickering | . |
Chicagoa | vs. | Anderson Republican | . |
Dan Morris | vs. | jerseycorn | . |
FightingRegistrar | vs. | stlbucket | . |
Dvd Avins | vs. | rteeter | Dvd Avins |
FWIW | vs. | cskendrick | . |
Gangster Octopus | vs. | Free Radical | . |
Marcion | vs. | nargel | nargel |
rhutcheson | vs. | hekebolos | . |
Thutmose V | vs. | RageKage | Thutmose V |
KStreetProjector | vs. | M31 | . |
Geenius at Wrok | vs. | DoomsdayShark | . |
foodmetaphors | vs. | Jumpin J | Jumpin J |
Ignacio Magaloni | vs. | cartwrightdale | . |
spider441 | vs. | neilliebus | . |
ajsuited | vs. | LaughingPlanet | . |
dpinzow | vs. | TheCid | DRAW |
aaraujo | vs. | ThyrsiodB | . |
zamrzla | vs. | Guy Fawkes | . |
Grey Paladin | vs. | vescis | Grey Paladin |
dissonantharmony | vs. | kentuckydave | . |
mconvente | vs. | DeadB0y | . |
black2thefuture | vs. | Pym | . |
Blue Intrigue | vs. | USArmyParatrooper | . |
cmorrison | vs. | ZaBlanc | cmorrison |
KillerKoala | vs. | Dbug | . |
sjohntucson | vs. | dnta | . |
eddiem86 | vs. | Jimdotz | eddiem86 |
filmgeek83 | vs. | BaxKen | . |
Patch Adam | vs. | bgblcklab1 | . |
debedb | vs. | matador | . |
Spud1 | vs. | eztempo | eztempo |
Crawdaddy | vs. | Blue Wind | . |
papicek | vs. | Celtic Merlin | . |
Kevin in Long Beach | vs. | Bill White | . |
lexington1 | vs. | Mo | . |
rmonroe | vs. | drache | drache |
Unlabled | vs. | sharris0512 | sharris0512 |
Elvis Vader | vs. | mattc129 | Elvis Vader |
Something the Dog Said | vs. | SuperBowlXX | SuperBowlXX |
evilstorm | vs. | Joffan | . |
JeffLieber | vs. | mnguy66 | . |
26 of 61 Round 2 matches have been completed.
Note: Due to scheduling conflicts, the users filmgeek83 and sharris0512 were switched with each other from their original respective match-ups.
UPDATED STANDINGS
Note: Standings are sorted first by points, then by alphabetical order. Color balance is included. Players who won their matches by forfeit had randomly selected colors for Round 1.
Player | # Matches | Points | # White | # Black |
Abelian | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
ben masel | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Cobbler | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
cschess | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Dvd Avins | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
high5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
i know | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
MakeChessNotWar | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
montrealdan | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
mquander | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
nargel | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
RickMassimo | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Sharkmeister | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
TeacherRyan | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Thutmose V | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
vets74 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Jumpin J | 2 | 1.5 | 1 | 1 |
ActivistGuy | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Albanius | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Anderson Republican | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Andrew Lazarus | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
AndrewMC | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
brendanm98 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
BTP | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
cavebird | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Chicagoa | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
cmorrison | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
cskendrick | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Dan Morris | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
dmet | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
DoomsdayShark | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
dov12348 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
dpinzow | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
drache | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
DynamicUno | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
eddiem86 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Elvis Vader | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
ericledford | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
eztempo | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
ferrisbueller | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
FWIW | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Gangster Octopus | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Geenius at Wrok | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Grey Paladin | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
hanswall | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
hekebolos | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
jerseycorn | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Keith Pickering | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Kimball | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
KStreetProjector | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
kto9 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
lostboyjim | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
M31 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Marcion | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Melanchthon | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
PedsNeuro | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
PinkFreud | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
PsiFighter37 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
RageKage | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
rhutcheson | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Robert Naiman | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
rteeter | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Seneca Doane | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
sharris0512 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
stlbucket | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
SuperBowlXX | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
thereisnospoon | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Twin Planets | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
wmorriss | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
writerkirk | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
aaraujo | 1 | 0.5 | 0 | 1 |
cartwrightdale | 1 | 0.5 | 1 | 0 |
FightingRegistrar | 1 | 0.5 | 0 | 1 |
Free Radical | 1 | 0.5 | 1 | 0 |
LaughingPlanet | 1 | 0.5 | 1 | 0 |
spider441 | 1 | 0.5 | 0 | 1 |
TheCid | 2 | 0.5 | 1 | 1 |
ajsuited | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
BaxKen | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
bgblcklab1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Bill White | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
black2thefuture | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Blue Intrigue | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Blue Wind | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Celtic Merlin | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Crawdaddy | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Dbug | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
DeadB0y | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
debedb | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
dissonantharmony | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
dnta | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
evilstorm | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
filmgeek83 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
foodmetaphors | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Guy Fawkes | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Ignacio Magaloni | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
JeffLieber | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Jimdotz | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Joffan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
kentuckydave | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Kevin in Long Beach | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
KillerKoala | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
lexington1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
matador | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
mattc129 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
mconvente | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
mnguy66 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Mo | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
neilliebus | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Odysseus | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
papicek | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Patch Adam | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Pym | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
rmonroe | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
sjohntucson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Something the Dog Said | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Spud1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
ThyrsiodB | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Uncle Cosmo | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Unlabled | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
USArmyParatrooper | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
valislav stein | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
vescis | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
ZaBlanc | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
zamrzla | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
KEY:
Points = 1 point for a win, 0 points for a loss, 0.5 points for a draw.
# White = Number of times played as White.
# Black = Number of times played as Black.
# Matches = Number of matches played.