tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68126707763734703032024-03-15T21:10:08.263-04:00In The Arena: Ruminations About CompetitionWhat sports talk should be: No fluff, no rumors, no nonsense--just the best sports analysis and commentaryDavid Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08444347475303187373noreply@blogger.comBlogger549125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6812670776373470303.post-38228692311433243802024-02-13T23:12:00.007-05:002024-02-14T00:53:55.827-05:00Reflections on the Passing of FM Alex Zelner<p>I was saddened today to learn that <a href="https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/name/alexander-zelner-obituary?id=54023154#obituary">FM Alex Zelner died of a heart attack on January 3, 2024</a>. Zelner was a prominent figure on the Ohio chess scene as a player and organizer for many years before he and his family moved to Florida in 1999. Zelner earned the National Master title in 1999 at the relatively late age of 38 after fluctuating throughout the Expert level for several years. Zelner's rating then dropped to the 2100 level and he bounced around between 2100 and 2200 until 2004, when he began a remarkable ascent that culminated in a peak USCF rating of 2481 plus attaining the FIDE Master title (which requires reaching a FIDE rating of at least 2300). I remember talking to Alex about how he reached National Master (and beyond) as an older player. He told me that he just decided to stop losing to players rated below 2000. Of course, such success is more complicated than that; I decided many times to stop losing to players rated below 2000, but I have yet to accomplish that feat! There is no doubt that Alex benefited from his close friendships with various Grandmasters--most notably Alex Goldin, who once ranked in the top 100 in the world--but if being friends with Grandmasters is all that it takes to reach 2400 then there would be a lot more 2400s in the world. I respect Alex' work ethic, and the way that he figured out how to lower his blunder rate. Lowering the blunder rate is the "secret" to becoming a Master for players who get stuck at the Expert level, but for most Experts it is very difficult to do this, particularly as an adult. <br /></p><p>I first met Alex in the late 1980s when I was a rising Class B player and he was already an established Expert. He beat me the first time we played each other (September 16, 1989 Miamisburg Tornado). At that time, his rating was 2109 while my rating was 1725, but I surpassed the 1800 (Class A) level the next month and I had an 1895 rating by December 1989. We did not play against each other again until 1992, when I scored an upset win as I was rated 1936 while Alex was rated 2126. That was before Alex decided to stop losing to players rated below 2000! He was a stronger player than I was, and generally he outplayed me, but in the 1990s I scored some wins against him courtesy of blunders that he made.</p><p>Alex organized many chess tournaments in Ohio, including events that attracted Grandmasters. I achieved the Expert title at the <a href="https://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?199505138880-12488564">May 13, 1995 Springfield Tornado</a> that he organized, scoring 3/4; my only loss was to Alex!<br /></p><p>USCF's online rating records go back to late 1991. According to their data, I played more Regular rated games (24) against Alex than anyone except for his wife Dr. Catherine Zelner (32) and his son David (29). Alex and I faced each other twice in the Dayton Chess Club Championship. He beat me both times, but he never won the DCC title. I shared the 1997 title with National Master John Vehre with a 5-1 score (the first of my <a href="http://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2015/05/david-friedman-captures-10th-dayton.html">record 10 DCC titles</a>) while Zelner settled for a fourth place tie with a 4-2 score; in 1998, Zelner tied for second-third while I tied for fourth-fifth.<br /></p><p>I scored five wins, one draw, and 18 losses versus Alex (plus the 1989 loss that is not included in the USCF data). Robert Sinn, who became a National Master in 1996, scored five wins, four losses, and one draw versus Alex, while Ram Dake, who became a National Master in 1992, went a perfect 6-0 versus Alex. No one else scored five wins versus Alex in USCF Regular rated games from 1991-2023. USCF's records show 1286 Regular rated games for Alex, and he enjoyed a winning percentage of 77.2, including victories over two Grandmasters with USCF ratings above 2600: Julio Becerra and Lubomir Ftacnik. Ftacnik won the European Junior Championship in 1976/77, he won the Czech national championship four times, and at his peak he was ranked 15th in the world.</p><p>Although I enjoyed playing against Alex and then analyzing with him after our games, and I enjoyed playing in the events that he organized, what stands out most to me is that Alex is the person who set me on the path to becoming a chess coach. In 1998, Alex asked me to coach his young sons David, Gregory, and Joshua. By that time, my rating fluctuated in the high 1900s/low 2000s, while Alex was rated in the 2100s. I had never worked as a chess coach, and I did not understand why a higher rated player wanted me to coach his children. Alex explained with a smile that his sons would not listen to his coaching because he was their father. He reassured me that I was more than strong enough to coach them, and he believed that I had not only the necessary playing strength but also the requisite communication/teaching skills. I accepted his offer, and we agreed that I would come to his house weekly to teach his sons for about an hour each; in return, he would not only pay me, but he would provide a home-cooked meal, and often he and I would play speed chess. The first chess lesson was on September 9, 1998, and the lessons continued on a weekly basis (with just a few exceptions) until April 19, 1999. I found that I very much enjoyed chess teaching, and I did so for nearly 20 years after the Zelner family moved to Florida. </p><p>Alex' sons continued to play chess in Florida, no doubt benefiting from Alex' teaching and from the guidance of Alex' Grandmaster friends. David later reached a peak USCF rating of 2184. Gregory's peak rating is 1849. Joshua's peak rating is 1729. In 2004, Alex had twin daughters, Roza and Zoe; both of them play chess, but I never had the opportunity to coach them, as they were born after the Zelner family moved to Florida.</p><p>After Alex moved to Florida, I only saw him a few times, when he returned to Ohio and we played in the same chess tournaments. He beat me in our last Regular rated game in 2006:</p><p>Event: MOTCF 4/29/06 (1)<br />White: Alex Zelner (2256)<br />Black: David Friedman (2026)<br /><br />1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 c6 4. Nf3 Qa5 <i>(4... Bg4 followed by ...e6 and ...d5 is the correct plan, aiming for a French-like structure with the QB developed outside of the pawn chain.)</i> 5. Bd2 e5 6. Be2 Bg4 7. d5 Nbd7 8. O-O Be7 9. Nh4 Bxe2 10. Qxe2 <i>(Now Black is saddled with a cramped position and bad B.)</i> O-O <i>(After the game GM Alex Goldin said that 10... g6 is essential, keeping the N out of f5. White still has a small edge, but "nothing special.") </i>11. Nf5 Qd8 12. dxc6 bxc6 13. Bg5 h6 <i>(13... g6 14. Nxe7+ Qxe7 15. Rfd1 Qe6 16. Qd2 Rfb8 17. b3 Ne8 with a slight advantage to White)</i> 14. Bh4 Re8 15. Rad1 Qc7 16. Qd3 Bf8 <i>(I originally intended 16... Nc5 but then I realized that White can play 17. Qg3 Nh5 18. Qg4 Bxh4 19. Nxh6+ Kh7 20. Nf5 g6 21. Qxh4 with a decisive advantage)</i> 17. Nxd6 Red8 <i>(17... Bxd6 18. Qxd6 Qb6 19. b3 Re6 20. Qd3 with a decisive advantage)</i> 18. Nc4 Nc5 19. Qf3 Rd4 Rxd4 exd4 21. Bxf6<i> (Best. I was hoping for 21. Ne2 Ncxe4 22. Bxf6 Nxf6 23. Nxd4 Nd5 when Black is only down one pawn.)</i> 21... gxf6 22. Ne2 Rd8 23. Rd1 Ne6 24. Qxf6 Bg7 25. Qf5 c5 26. Ng3 Nf4 27. e5 Ng6 28. f4 Ne7 29. Qg4 Kh7 30. Ne4 Nd5 31. Rd3 Qd7 32. f5 <i>(Lights out.)</i> Ne7 33. Ncd6 Bxe5 34. Ng5+ hxg5 35. Qh5+ Kg8 36. Qxf7+ 1-0<br /><br />Alex had not played many Regular rated games in recent years, but he was
still very active in Quick rated chess, logging 114 Quick rated games
in 2023. The last time I played Alex was a Quick rated game that we drew on July 13, 2012 (we had previously played two Quick games against each other, scoring one win apiece).</p><p>Alex Zelner inspired me to become a chess coach when I had never previously thought of doing that. Being a chess coach brought me a lot of joy, and I like to think that it brought a lot of joy (and knowledge) to my many students (several of whom subsequently earned the National Master title). Alex Zelner's example as a late-blooming National Master still inspires me during my ongoing (and quite challenging) <a href="https://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2023/12/journey-to-national-master-title-part-8.html">Journey to the National Master title</a>. I extend my deepest sympathy to Catherine, David, Gregory, Joshua, Roza, and Zoe. <br /></p><p>Rest in peace, my friend, competitor, and inspiration.<br /></p>David Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08444347475303187373noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6812670776373470303.post-8808114857325560682024-02-12T03:42:00.010-05:002024-02-12T09:11:44.177-05:00Chiefs Beat 49ers 25-22 in Overtime, Become First Repeat Super Bowl Champions Since 2003-04 Patriots<p>The careers of great athletes look inevitable in retrospect, even if those careers did not look inevitable from the onset or during critical moments. In 10 years--if not sooner--the Kansas City Chiefs' 25-22 win over the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII to clinch back to back championships will be viewed as just another triumph during the midst of the Chiefs capturing three Super Bowls in a five year span. The Chiefs are the NFL's first repeat champions since the 2003-04 New England Patriots. Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes earned his third Super Bowl MVP, joining Tom Brady (five) and Joe Montana (four) as the only players to win at least three Super Bowl MVPs. Like Brady and Montana, Mahomes has often engineered come from behind scoring drives to reach and then win the Super Bowl; a dropped pass, a tipped ball, or a missed kick could have derailed any of those drives, but after those drives enter the record books they look inevitable, not fragile.<br /></p><p>During Super Bowl LVIII there were many moments when a Chiefs' victory seemed far from inevitable. The 49ers were favored in every game that they played during the regular season and the playoffs, and they lived up to that billing for most of the Super Bowl; they scored first in the Super Bowl, taking a 3-0 lead at the 14:48 mark of the second quarter. They did not trail until Mahomes connected with Marquez Valdes-Scanling on a 16 yard touchdown pass that put the Chiefs up 13-10 with 2:28 remaining in the third quarter, and the 49ers quickly countered with a 75 yard drive culminating in a 10 yard touchdown pass from Brock Purdy to Jauan Jennings with 11:22 remaining in the fourth quarter, putting them ahead 16-13; the Chiefs blocked Jake Moody's point after touchdown, which proved to be a pivotal play affecting strategy and play calling for the rest of the game due to the critical difference between leading by four points and only leading by three points. The teams exchanged field goals during the final 5:46, with the Chiefs' Harrison Butker sending the game to overtime by drilling a 29 yarder with :03 remaining in the fourth quarter. The 49ers took the opening kickoff of overtime and drove 66 yards before Moody made a 27 yard field goal to put them up, 22-19. The 49ers were one defensive stop away from dethroning the reigning Super Bowl champions--but Mahomes led the Chiefs on a 13 play, 75 yard drive culminating in his three yard touchdown pass to Mecole Hardman. Mahomes completed all eight of his passes during the game-winning drive as the Chiefs had two third down conversions and one fourth down conversion. Overall, Mahomes went 34-46 for 333 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception while also leading the team in rushing with 66 yards on nine carries.<br /></p><p>Anyone who has played sports at any level understands that a great player elevates his team not only because of his individual talent but also because of the confidence that he inspires in the team: when you play alongside a great player, you know that the game is rarely if ever truly out of reach, so you keep plugging away at your job with the understanding that if the game is close at the end then the great player will probably find a way to put the team over the top. Conversely, teams that do not have a great player are more apt to lose confidence or hope, and thus not keep pushing; when things are not going well, it is human nature to get frustrated and lose focus, but great players transcend that aspect of human nature and thus they inspire their teammates to be transcendent as well.<br /></p><p>That is not meant to suggest that the 49ers lack great players or that they gave up. Purdy may be a great player in the making, and it is worth noting that he put his team in the lead after each of his final two drives, forcing Mahomes to direct a drive to tie the game and then direct another drive to win the game.<br /></p><p></p><p>Football is a game of inches, and Chiefs have repeatedly demonstrated <a href="https://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2021/01/chiefs-and-browns-demonstrate-that.html">the ability to find the inches that they need to win games</a>. Change just a handful of plays, and Mahomes has no Super Bowl wins instead of three, but that is not how football--or life--works. Mahomes has proven his ability to rise to the occasion when it matters most, regardless of how he, his team, or the other team performed prior to the critical moment. In retrospect, this seems inevitable, much like we don't think about the hypothetical ways that <a href="http://20secondtimeout.blogspot.com/2013/02/michael-jordan-always-attacked-citadels.html">Michael Jordan</a> might not have won six NBA titles; those championships seem inevitable in retrospect.</p><p>However, just a few months before Jordan led the Chicago Bulls to their first NBA championship, <a href="http://20secondtimeout.blogspot.com/2007/09/phil-jackson-zen-and-art-of-winning.html">his teammate Bill Cartwright provided this assessment of Jordan</a> (as related on page 249 of Sam Smith's book <b>The Jordan Rules</b>): "He's the greatest athlete I've ever seen. Maybe the greatest athlete
ever to play any sport. He can do whatever he wants. It all comes so
easy to him. He's just not a basketball player." Many "experts" declared that Jordan was too selfish to ever win a championship; what looks inevitable in retrospect did not seem likely or even possible to many people before it happened. It is fascinating to watch narratives develop and shift over time. Did Michael Jordan's essence as a player change in just a few months, or did he exploit opportunities as those opportunities presented themselves? It took Jordan seven years to reach the NBA Finals for the first time, but after that point he won all six times he reached the NBA Finals. During those championship runs, Jordan's Bulls beat the L.A. Lakers 4-1 in the 1991 NBA Finals after losing game one, they overcame a 2-0 deficit versus the New York Knicks in 1993, they survived a tough seven game series with the Indiana Pacers in 1998, and they beat the Utah Jazz 4-2 in the 1998 NBA Finals after losing game one. In retrospect, all we remember or see is that Jordan went 6-0 in the NBA Finals; the bumps in the road are forgotten, and the prevailing narrative describes a smooth, inevitable path: Jordan's career is summarized by listing the six championships that he won, not the preceding years during which he failed to reach the NBA Finals, and not the playoff series during which his team trailed and could have lost.<br /></p><p>Similarly, Mahomes' journey has not always been smooth, but with three Super Bowl wins by the age of 28 he has entered rarefied air, and thus the prevailing narrative compares him with the greatest quarterbacks of all-time. In that conversation, it is important to remember that <a href="https://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2021/02/placing-tom-bradys-greatness-in.html">Tom
Brady won seven Super Bowls (including a victory versus Mahomes' Chiefs
in Super Bowl LV) and Otto Graham won seven championships in a 10 year
AAFC/NFL career</a>. In other words, Mahomes will have to add another haul of Super Bowl rings equal to the career totals of Terry Bradshaw or Joe Montana just to tie Brady or Graham; it should be obvious that this will not be an easy task even for someone as young and great as Mahomes. Football is perhaps the ultimate team sport: the quarterback runs the show on offense and deservedly gets a lot of credit for team wins/team championships, but team wins and team championships are impossible to achieve without the combined efforts of dozens of other players, plus the coaching staff.</p><p>Speaking of coaches, remember when Andy Reid was derided as a coach who is not capable of
winning the big game? Hall of Fame coaches Don Shula and Tom Landry were
both saddled with that label before winning two Super Bowls each, and now Reid is one of just five coaches with at least three Super Bowl wins, though it should be noted that Paul Brown won four AAFC titles plus three NFL titles, while George Halas won five NFL titles, and Vince Lombardi won three NFL titles before capturing two Super Bowl titles. Shula and Landry are revered as winners, and no one talks about their early, painful playoff defeats; in a similar fashion, Reid has transformed the narrative about his career. Just as it may have once looked inevitable that Shula, Landry, and Reid would never win the big one, in retrospect it seems obvious that they were destined to capture multiple championships.</p><p>Next season, Mahomes, Reid, and the Chiefs have an opportunity to win an unprecedented third straight Super Bowl--and if they accomplish that feat, no one will remember how close that game was.<br /></p>David Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08444347475303187373noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6812670776373470303.post-49218446178980440332024-01-15T01:48:00.009-05:002024-01-15T02:01:13.753-05:00Texans Demolish Browns, 45-14<p>The Cleveland Browns entered Houston on Saturday as a road favorite--an unusual circumstance in the NFL playoffs--but the Texans routed the Browns 45-14 to put a sudden and disappointing end to the Browns' season. Rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud nearly had a perfect passer rating (157.2 out of a maximum possible 158.3) as he eviscerated the Browns' highly touted defense. Stroud had 236 passing yards and three touchdowns without being sacked in the first half en route to becoming the youngest quarterback to win a playoff game. Meanwhile, Cleveland's late-season acquisition Joe Flacco--the MVP of Super Bowl XLVII for Baltimore who played very well down the stretch for Cleveland--became the first quarterback to toss multiple pick-sixes in a playoff game since 2007. Flacco tossed those pick-sixes on consecutive possessions, which has not happened in the NFL playoffs since Rich Gannon did it in Super Bowl XXXVII. Stroud is beginning what looks to be a promising career, while the soon to be 39 year old Flacco may have played his last NFL game. </p><p>Full credit to the Texans for a job well-done, but as a long-suffering Browns fan my focus is trained squarely on the losers (which is not meant to detract in any way from what the Texans accomplished).<br /></p><p>Kevin Stefanski did an excellent job leading the injury-riddled Browns
to an 11-6 record in the 2023 regular season, as the Browns overcame season-ending injuries suffered by elite running back Nick Chubb and starting quarterback Deshaun Watson. Stefanski is the only Browns coach since Bill Belichick to win a playoff game; three years ago, the <a href="https://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2021/01/browns-shock-steelers-post-first-road.html">Cleveland
Browns defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 48-37 to notch the Browns'
first road playoff win since 1969 and their first playoff win overall
since 1995</a>. The Browns scored more than 48 points in a playoff game
just twice in their storied history, defeating Buffalo 49-7 in the 1948
All-America Football Conference (AAFC) Championship Game, and routing
Detroit 56-10 in the 1954 NFL Championship Game. After beating
Pittsburgh, the <a href="https://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2021/01/chiefs-and-browns-demonstrate-that.html">Browns lost to the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, 22-17</a>.</p><p>Stefanski is easily the Browns' best coach since Belichick, although being the best Browns coach during that dreadful period in franchise history is admittedly a low hurdle to jump. While giving Stefanski credit for the success he has enjoyed, it must be noted that the Browns have often <a href="https://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2022/09/the-cleveland-browns-flunk-situational.html">flunked situational football on his watch</a>. The 2023 Browns led the league in most turnovers, and ranked second in most penalties committed. Turnovers and penalties often result from a lack of concentration and discipline; both traits are honed in practice, which is where the best coaches make their mark in any sport (notwithstanding the obsession that many media members have with <a href="http://20secondtimeout.blogspot.com/2021/07/suns-overcome-antetokounmpos-42-points.html">in-game adjustments)</a>. I will never forget <a href="https://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2008/11/monday-night-football-quick-hits-wide.html">my conversation with Tom Brown</a>, who started at safety for the Green Bay teams that won the first two Super Bowls (he also played briefly in MLB for the Washington Senators). Brown told me that what changed for the Packers after the departure of Coach Vince Lombardi is that during practice the team lacked the attention to detail that characterized Lombardi's approach to the game, and that lack of attention to detail in practice led to sloppiness during games. </p><p>The turnovers, defensive lapses, and other mistakes the Browns committed during this debacle are all too familiar to Browns fans. The Browns did not look ready or well-prepared. It is worth noting that Stefanski rested most of his starters in the final game of the 2023 regular season, and the Browns suffered a 31-14 drubbing at the hands of their intrastate division rival Cincinnati Bengals. I understand why the Browns rested their players, and I realize that the Browns were not the only team that rested their starters, but I have never been a fan of resting, load management, tanking, or anything other than trying hard to win every game. Tony Dungy was a great coach, but he only won one Super Bowl--and he won that Super Bowl in one of the rare seasons (2006) that he did not rest his key players down the stretch. During other seasons, <a href="http://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2008/01/colts-will-be-well-rested-when-they.html">Dungy's well-rested players watched other teams play in the Super Bowl</a>. <a href="http://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2007/12/we-play-toget-reggie-wayne-receiving.html">Dungy rested his players in the 2007 season finale</a>, and they responded by laying an egg in their first playoff game, giving up more points and more yards than they did in any regular season game, much like the Browns' vaunted defense collapsed versus the Texans despite being so well-rested. In contrast, Tom Coughlin won two Super Bowls, and <a href="https://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2012/10/competitive-greatness-why-tom-coughlin.html">he should be commended/respected for trying to win every game</a>, an approach that helped his <a href="http://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2008/02/giant-upset-eli-manning-calmly-cancels.html">New York Giants win a Super Bowl versus the previously undefeated New England Patriots</a>. <br /></p><p></p><p>The Houston-Cleveland matchup is intriguing not only from a coaching/preparation standpoint but also because of the 2022 trade that sent quarterback Deshaun Watson from Houston to Cleveland in exchange for six draft picks; the early returns suggest that the Texans won that trade by an even wider margin than they won this game: Watson has been often injured and only seldom effective as a Brown, while the Texans used the draft picks to acquire (either directly via the draft or by trading the draft picks) running back Dameon Pierce, defensive end Will Anderson Jr., receiver Tank Dell, guard Kenyon Green, linebacker Christian Harris, receiver John Metchie III, and defensive end Thomas Booker. The Texans still have three more draft picks from that trade, so they can run up the score so to speak if one or more of those draft picks play well. Pierce led the Texans in rushing (939 yards) as a rookie in 2022, but had a diminished role this season (416 yards) after Devin Singletary emerged as the featured back. As a rookie this season, Anderson Jr. has already made an impact. Fellow rookie Dell had 47 catches for 709 yards and seven touchdowns in 11 games this season before breaking his leg. Green has not made his presence felt yet, but the Texans traded down in the draft to select him, in the process acquiring a fourth round pick and two fifth round picks. The Texans packaged one of those fifth round picks with a third round pick to move up and select Harris in 2022. Harris is a key player for the Texans' defense; the Texans used the fourth round pick to select Metchie III, who missed all of the 2022 season with leukemia but bounced back to have 16 catches this season. Booker is no longer with the Texans.</p><p>Before the Houston game, the Browns thought that they had a Super Bowl caliber defense, a veteran quarterback who had already won a Super Bowl, and an offense that featured enough good playmakers to enable Flacco to shine. All of that hope and expectation meant little after kickoff, so the Browns head into yet another offseason facing more questions than answers: </p><p>Is Stefanski a Super Bowl-caliber coach? </p><p>Will Watson get healthy and stay healthy? </p><p>Will Watson return to playing at a Pro Bowl level if he stays healthy? </p><p>Will Chubb be the same player he was before tearing up his knee? <br /></p><p>Why did the Browns' highly praised defense fall apart when the stakes were highest? Unless the Texans go on a playoff run that proves otherwise, the Browns were embarrassed by a team that is not a Super Bowl contender, which is very disconcerting.<br /></p>David Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08444347475303187373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6812670776373470303.post-79070407082153299732024-01-12T01:56:00.003-05:002024-01-12T02:42:43.444-05:00Appreciating Bill Belichick and Nick Saban<p>In the past two days, the greatest college football coach of all-time--<a href="https://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2018/07/nick-saban-on-mindset-of-champion.html">Nick Saban</a>--retired, and the greatest pro football coach of all-time--<a href="https://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2015/02/bill-belichicks-legacy-should-not-be.html">Bill Belichick</a>--amicably parted ways with the New England Patriots. It is unclear if Saban will coach again, but it seems likely that Belichick will get another NFL head coaching job. It is fitting to discuss them in the same article because their careers are intertwined.</p><p><a href="https://www.si.com/nfl/2018/01/18/bill-belichick-nick-saban-friendship-relationship-patriots-alabama-browns">Saban and Belichick have been friends since the early 1980s</a> when Saban worked with Belichick's father Steve on the coaching staff at Navy. When Bill Belichick became head coach of the Cleveland Browns in 1991, Nick Saban was the first assistant coach he hired. As the defensive coordinator, Saban played a key role for the Browns as they <a href="https://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2018/02/pondering-dynasty-that-belichick-and.html">improved from 3-13 the year before Belichick took the reins to 11-5 in 1994</a>. Belichick's Browns coaching staff included not only Saban but also Ozzie Newsome--the Hall of Fame tight end who later built the Baltimore Ravens into two-time Super Bowl champions--plus Kirk Ferentz (who has coached Iowa to 196 wins since 1999), and Pat Hill (who later won 112 games as an NCAA head coach). Belichick and Saban are football savants who share a love for dissecting the sport's intricate details and then preparing meticulously to exploit even the slightest possible advantage. <br /></p><p>Saban left the Browns after the 1994 season to become the head coach at Michigan State. He led the Spartans to a 34-24-1 record in five seasons before becoming LSU's head coach. LSU went 3-8 and finished last in the SEC in 1999, the year before Saban arrived; just four years later, Saban led LSU to a 13-1 record and the national championship. After one more season at LSU, Saban left to become the head coach of the Miami Dolphins. The Dolphins went 15-17 in two seasons under Saban; their 6-10 mark in 2006 is the only losing season Saban suffered as a head coach (not including 2007, when Alabama was forced to vacate four wins due to NCAA sanctions stemming from misconduct that mostly took place under Saban's predecessor Mike Shula).</p><p>Saban left the Dolphins to become Alabama's head coach in 2007, and the rest is history, as Saban led the Crimson Tide to six national championships (2009, 2011-12, 2015, 2017, 2020) in 17 seasons. Saban has won more national championships (seven) than any coach in NCAA football history, and he ranks sixth on the all-time NCAA wins list with 292. Saban is the first and only coach to win a national championship at two different FBS schools since the inception of the AP poll in 1936, and he joined Paul "Bear" Bryant as the only two coaches to win an SEC title at two different schools. Saban was equally adept at recruiting elite athletes and developing innovative tactics; there have been many coaches who mastered one of those aspects, but it is difficult to imagine another coach matching Saban's acumen in both. Alabama never had a Heisman Trophy winner before Saban arrived in Tuscaloosa; the Crimson Tide had four Heisman Trophy winners on Saban's watch: Mark Ingram (2009), Derrick Henry (2015), DeVonta Smith (2020), and Bryce Young (2022). Only four schools have more Heisman Trophy winners than Alabama: Ohio State, Oklahoma, Notre Dame, and USC each have seven Heisman Trophy winners--but those schools accumulated their Heisman Trophies over several decades, while Saban moved Alabama to fifth on the all-time list in 15 years.<br /></p><p>Belichick dominated the NFL in a similar fashion to the way that Saban dominated the NCAA. Belichick only coached one more season with the Browns after Saban departed; after <a href="https://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2012/09/art-modell-remembered.html">Art Modell</a> announced his plan to move the Browns to Baltimore, Belichick endured a tumultuous 1995 season. Modell fired Belichick after that 5-11 campaign. Belichick spent the 1996 season as assistant head coach with the New England Patriots under Bill Parcells, and then he moved to the New York Jets with Parcells, serving as assistant head coach from 1997-1999. After Parcells left the Jets, Belichick was the heir apparent, but Belichick made a shrewd assessment of the situation and decided to instead become the head coach of the New England Patriots. Belichick took over a team that went 8-8 under Pete Carroll, and Belichick's critics howled after the Patriots went 5-11 in 2000--but the Patriots improved to 11-5 in 2001, winning the AFC East and defeating the favored St. Louis "Greatest Show on Turf" Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI. </p><p>The Patriots slipped to 9-7 in 2002 but then won back to back Super Bowl titles in 2003 and 2004 en route to posting 17 consecutive seasons with at least 10 wins; during that time, the Patriots won 16 AFC East titles (including 11 straight from 2009-2019), and three more Super Bowls (2014, 2016, 2018) while posting the first (and only) 16-0 regular season (2007) in NFL history. In 2008, the Patriots went 11-5 despite losing Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady to a season-ending knee injury in the first quarter of the first game. When the <a href="https://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2019/02/patriots-sustained-greatness-demands.html">Patriots beat the L.A. Rams 13-3 in Super Bowl LIII, Belichick became the oldest coach to win a Super Bowl</a>. </p><p>Belichick made his name as a defensive guru--his defensive game plan as the defensive coordinator for the Giants' first Super Bowl win is an exhibit at the Pro Football Hall of Fame--but during his career he has proven that he can adjust with the times as well as with personnel changes. At the start of his New England tenure, the Patriots relied on stern defense and timely offense, but after Brady developed into an elite passer Belichick opened up the offense and the Patriots' offense became fearsome. Belichick was successful when he had superstar receiver Randy Moss, and he was successful when he had a receiving corps devoid of Pro Bowl receivers. Belichick has a grandmaster level understanding of situational football, and his special teams units contributed heavily to the success of his teams. <br /></p><p>Belichick has won six Super Bowl titles in nine Super Bowl appearances as a head coach. He is the record holder in both categories by a wide margin, with Chuck Noll ranking second in wins (four) and Don Shula ranking second in appearances (six). In the pre-Super Bowl era, George Halas and Curly Lambeau each won six NFL titles. <br /></p><p>Belichick holds NFL coaching records for most playoff wins (31, nine more than Andy Reid), most division titles (17, four more than Shula, Andy Reid, and Tom Landry), most conference championships in the Super Bowl era (nine), and most Super Bowl appearances (12, including three as an assistant coach). Belichick ranks third all-time in NFL regular season wins (302), trailing only Shula (328) and Halas (318); if you add up regular season wins and playoff wins, Belichick's 333 trails only Shula's 347. Belichick's 21 winning seasons are fifth on the all-time list behind Halas (40), Shula (33), Lambeau (33), and Landry (29).</p><p>It is no secret that New England has not played well during the four seasons after Tom Brady left New England to go to Tampa Bay--but people who have short memories or who lack knowledge of football history place too much emphasis on these last few years of Belchick's New England career, and they focus too much on whether Belichick or Brady deserve the most credit for New England's unprecedented success. Hall of Fame quarterback play is almost always required to win a Super Bowl, and after winning Super Bowls even the greatest NFL coaches rarely end their careers on a high note.<br /></p><p>There are 13 coaches other than Belichick who have won at least two Super Bowls. Andy Reid is the only two-time Super Bowl winner who is currently coaching an NFL team. <br /></p><p>Noll won all four of his Super Bowls with Hall of Famer Terry Bradshaw at quarterback. Bradshaw retired after the 1983 season, and Noll posted a 2-2 playoff record in his final eight seasons after going 14-6 in the playoffs from 1969-1983. Noll had eight seasons with at least 10 regular season wins from 1972-83 but did not win more than nine games in a season after 1983.</p><p>Joe Gibbs and <a href="https://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2007/07/three-time-super-bowl-champion-coach.html">Bill Walsh</a> are next on the Super Bowl coaches list with three championships each. Gibbs won Super Bowls with three different starting quarterbacks, none of whom are Hall of Famers. His Washington Redskins went 9-7 in the season after his last Super Bowl win, and he retired. Gibbs came back to the Redskins 12 years later, but he did not match his earlier success, posting losing records in two seasons out of four and failing to qualify for the playoffs in all four seasons before retiring for good. Walsh is the rare NFL coach who left on top, retiring in 1988 after his San Francisco 49ers won their third Super Bowl in an eight season span. Hall of Famer Joe Montana was the quarterback for all three of Walsh's Super Bowl champions. Walsh later came back as the head coach at Stanford, where he had posted back to back bowl wins before becoming the 49ers' coach; he led Stanford to a bowl win in 1992, but closed his coaching career with 4-7 and 3-7-1 records. </p><p>Shula's Miami Dolphins won back to back Super Bowl titles in 1972-73 with Hall of Fame quarterback Bob Griese, and Shula led the Dolphins back to the Super Bowl twice in the 1980s, but in the 10 seasons after his last Super Bowl appearance the Dolphins posted a 3-4 playoff record and missed the playoffs six times. </p><p>Landry led the Dallas Cowboys to 20 consecutive winning seasons and two Super Bowl titles, but in his final three seasons the Cowboys went 7-9, 7-9, and 3-13. Hall of Famer Roger Staubach was the quarterback for both of Landry's Super Bowl champions<br /></p><p>Bill Parcells won two Super Bowls in a five season span--both times with Belichick running the defense--but his teams missed the playoffs four times in his final seven seasons, and he did not win a playoff game in his final five seasons. Like Gibbs, Parcells won his Super Bowls without having a Hall of Fame quarterback.<br /></p><p></p><p>Tom Coughlin's New York Giants twice defeated Belichick's Patriots in the Super Bowl, but after that second Super Bowl win Coughlin did not make another playoff appearance in his final four seasons, posting losing records in the last three. Coughlin's two-time Super Bowl MVP quarterback Eli Manning is not yet Hall of Fame eligible, but it is a safe bet that Manning will be a Hall of Famer. </p><p>Mike Shananan led the Denver Broncos to back to back Super Bowl wins in
1997-98 with Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway running the show. After
1998, Shanahan went 1-5 in the playoffs, and he finished his career
coaching the Washington Redskins to three losing seasons in a four year
span, including a 3-13 record in his final campaign. </p><p>George Seifert succeeded Walsh, and won a Super Bowl in his first season with Montana as the quarterback. Seifert won his second Super Bowl in 1994 with Hall of Famer Steve Young as the quarterback. Seifert coached five more seasons (two with the 49ers and then three with the Carolina Panthers), posting a 1-2 playoff record and ending his career with back to back losing seasons, including a 1-15 record in his final campaign.</p><p>Tom Flores led the Raiders to two Super Bowl wins in a four year span, but he did not win a single playoff game after capturing his second Super Bowl title. The Raiders had losing records in each of his final four seasons. Jim Plunkett, who is not a Hall of Famer, quarterbacked both of Flores' championship teams.<br /></p><p>Vince Lombardi coached the Green Bay Packers to five championships, including wins in each of the first two Super Bowls. Hall of Famer Bart Starr quaterbacked all five of Lombardi's championship teams. Lombardi retired after his second Super Bowl win/fifth championship, only to return a year later to coach the Washington Redskins. Lombardi led the Redskins to a 7-5-2 record in his only season with the team before he died of cancer.</p><p>Jimmy Johnson coached the Dallas Cowboys to back to back Super Bowl wins in 1992-93 before losing a power struggle with owner Jerry Jones. Hall of Famer Troy Aikman quarterbacked both of those Super Bowl champions, and then he won a third Super Bowl with Barry Switzer coaching Dallas. Johnson returned to the NFL in 1996 with the Miami Dolphins, posting a 36-28 regular season record and a 2-3 playoff record without reaching the conference championship round, let alone the Super Bowl.<br /></p><p>It should be noted that Paul Brown led the Cleveland Browns to seven league championships in the pre-Super Bowl era--four straight in the AAFC and then three in the NFL. Hall of Famer Otto Graham was his quarterback for all seven championships. Brown coached the Browns for seven more seasons after Graham retired; during that time, the Browns lost twice in the NFL championship game. Modell fired Brown after the Browns went 7-6-1 in 1962. Brown returned to pro football in 1968 as the owner/coach of the expansion Cincinnati Bengals in the AFL, leading the Bengals to a 55-56-1 record in eight seasons (two in the AFL and six in the NFL). The Bengals went 0-3 in the playoffs under Brown.</p><p>The point is not to throw shade on any of these great coaches, but to just emphasize that Belichick's late career record is not unusual and does not in any way diminish what he accomplished during his prime. It will be interesting to see how Belichick fares if he is hired by another team.<br /></p><p>For any football purist it was a joy to watch teams coached by Belichick or Saban, because their teams were disciplined, well-prepared, calm under pressure, and fundamentally sound. <br /></p>David Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08444347475303187373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6812670776373470303.post-78293423307846493022023-12-19T20:22:00.007-05:002024-02-14T00:56:23.137-05:00Journey to the National Master Title, Part 8<p>I have been quite active in the past three months, and usually when I am very active I perform well, but unfortunately that was not the case to close out 2023. In the October 8, 2023 East Market Round Robin (Columbus, Ohio), I scored
3/5, finishing out of the money and dropping 19 hard-earned rating points to fall to 2012. I played well for most of the day, starting with 2/3 and finishing with a crisp 26 move win in round five, but the whole event went bad for me in one second during round four: in a completely winning position against eventual tournament winner Calvin Roach, I played my move one second too late and lost on time. The time control was G/40 with a five second increment, so if I had just made my move a bit faster and then responded immediately on my next move I would have then had six seconds, which would have been more than enough (with the five second increment) to finish the game off. Full credit to Roach, who defended resourcefully enough to induce me to run out of time. He scored 4/5 overall, gaining 143 rating points to vault from 1655 to 1798, just short of his highest rating ever (1823). That one fateful second represented a 24 point rating swing, meaning I could have finished the tournament at 2036 instead of 2012.</p><p>I scored 1.5/3 in the October 14, 2023 Dublin (Columbus, Ohio) G/60 tournament, gaining six rating points to improve my rating to 2018. I drew my second round game versus the top rated player (Joel Jaffe, 2191), but lost to Brett Passen (2168) in the last round and thus finished out of the money.</p><p>I scored 2/4 in the October 22, 2023 East Market Swiss, losing nine rating points to fall to 2009. I was the third seeded player out of 12 players, and I lost to the number one seed (Brett Passen) and the number two seed (John Miller).</p><p>I scored 3/4 in the October 28, 2023 Cincinnati Tornado, losing four rating points to drop to 2005. I was the fourth seeded player out of 37 players, and I tied for third-eighth place. In the last round, I drew with the third seeded player, Russell Wilson. I had lost my previous six games versus Wilson, who earned the National Master title in the late 1980s and maintained a USCF rating over 2200 for most of the time between the late 1980s and early 2000s. Wilson won the 1999 U.S. Amateur South tournament with 4.5/5, while I took second place in that event (on tiebreaks) with 4/5; we did not face each other in that tournament, and my only loss came against Ryan Milisits, a talented junior player who was rated just 1782 at that time but who earned the National Master title in 2004. Wilson tied with Mark Geist for the Ohio Champion title in the 2001 <a href="https://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2015/01/history-of-ohio-chess-congress.html">Ohio Chess Championship</a> (Stanislav Kriventsov won the tournament, but as an out of Ohio resident was not eligible to be Ohio Champion).</p><p>A few days after the Cincinnati Open, the USCF rerated many events that were played after February 2023. I am not going to edit the articles in this series to update my ratings after each tournament that was rerated, nor am I going to edit the post tournament ratings listed above; it suffices to say that after the rerate my October 28, 2023 post tournament rating was 2009. </p><p>I played in two tournaments on my birthday weekend. I scored 1.5/3 in the November 4, 2023 Columbus G/60 tournament, gaining seven rating points to improve my rating to 2016. In the first round, I drew with the top seeded player, Broderick Bauml, after I missed a win during mutual time pressure (but he was in worse time pressure than I was, with less than 20 seconds remaining while I had about two minutes remaining). I beat Expert Justin Notter in a wild game in the second round, and then on board one in the third round I lost to Nicholas Bize, so I failed to win a prize. I scored 4/5 in the November 5, 2023 East Market Round Robin, gaining 16 rating points to improve my rating to 2032. I was the second seeded player. I drew the top seeded player, John Miller, and I drew the third seeded player, Henry Lu, and I won my other three games to claim clear first place. </p><p></p><p>Kings Island is one of my favorite tournaments, and I have been successful there many times, including tying for second in the U2000 section in 2003, tying for third in the U2100 section in 2007, tying for first in the U2100 section in 2012, and finishing clear second in the 2013 Kings Island Open Saturday Night Blitz. However, in recent years at Kings Island I have not performed up to my standards. This year, I scored 2/5 in the U2100 section on November 11-12, 2023, losing 43 rating points to fall below 2000 (1989) for the first time since September 2023. I lost three games in the same event for the first time since my disastrous 2/5 performance in the June 10-11, 2023 Cleveland Open. A player's rating as of the final week of November becomes his official December rating, so 2023 marks the first time since 2019 that my official year end rating is below 2000; in 11 of the past 15 years my year end rating has been higher than 2000. After round three, I played in the Kings Island Open Saturday Night Blitz, tying for 14th-16th place out of 41 players with a score of 4.5/8, and losing 30 blitz rating points. </p><p>Here is how I squandered a winning position in round one of Kings Island versus Siddarth Kunapuli, a rising young player who is currently rated 1867. In the diagrammed position, it is my turn after my opponent played Qd7. The check on f7 is not a serious threat, so I should have just played ...Bc5. My opponent can take on b7, but then I can play ...Qe4+ followed by either ...Qxc2 or ...Bd6. Stockfish 16 gives Black a nearly +6 advantage, equivalent to being ahead by more than a full Rook. Instead, I played ...Qe7 and watched in horror as my opponent took the free Bishop on d4. The engine evaluation swung by over 10 points in just one move! Objectively, in terms of advantage squandered in one move this has to rank as one of the worst moves of my chess career, or at least one of my worst moves since I became an Expert in May 1995.<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ766v-yvtvD3Oa1mq1t5xVnjq2beEHbGqwzA0Vtcd7_SXnJQKGffmycqrAm4_YNxfTFy1PdPNDuaudQUrg9bMQnqgq8NOeNSWP0sbYT8T5qN-mbj5Qi1x9-jpSNyBmYfsDEqrZqImpZgHRyATk8DOn0fGyjWCdY_HSbG-zlhc7HQUmpeZmCATHmYm-WDC/s2399/Kunapuli%20nonsense.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2354" data-original-width="2399" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ766v-yvtvD3Oa1mq1t5xVnjq2beEHbGqwzA0Vtcd7_SXnJQKGffmycqrAm4_YNxfTFy1PdPNDuaudQUrg9bMQnqgq8NOeNSWP0sbYT8T5qN-mbj5Qi1x9-jpSNyBmYfsDEqrZqImpZgHRyATk8DOn0fGyjWCdY_HSbG-zlhc7HQUmpeZmCATHmYm-WDC/s320/Kunapuli%20nonsense.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p>Two weeks after the Kings Island disaster, I played in the November 25, 2023 Dublin (Columbus) G/60 tournament, scoring 2.5/4 and losing 12 rating points to drop to 1977. I scored 2.5/3 to set up a last round board one game versus top seeded Nicholas Bize, who defeated me to finish 4/4 and not only claim clear first but also win the bonus prize for a perfect score. Bize attained the Expert title at Kings Island, and he is well on his way to breaking the 2100 barrier during his expedited journey to the National Master title.</p><p>It is rare that I have two awful performances in close proximity to each other, but in the November 26, 2023 East Market Swiss I lost my first two games, hanging my Queen in each one. I won my next two games to finish 2/4, but I lost 34 rating points to drop to 1943, my lowest rating since September 2021. In September-November 2021, I responded by gaining 18 points, 52 points, 23 points, and 12 points in my next four tournaments.</p><p>This time, I responded by gaining a total of 25 points in my next three tournaments. I scored 2/3 in the December 2, 2023 Dublin (Columbus) G/60 tournament to tie for second-fourth place, but because all three of my opponents were rated below 1900 I lost three points despite having a positive score. I then scored 3/4 in the December 3, 2023 East Market Swiss to tie for second-third place, gaining 27 points to push my rating up to 1967. In my final tournament of 2023, I scored 3/4 in the December 17, 2023 East Market Swiss, tying for second-third place and gaining one point to lift my rating up to 1968.<br /></p><p></p><p>Overall, I had some great chess results in 2023. I won 93 rated games, setting a personal calendar year record. I also set a personal calendar year record for rated games played, 155, surpassing my previous mark of 151 (set in 2011 and matched in 2013). My winning percentage of .684 was my sixth best ever. My peak rating was 2038. I finished first or tied for first in nine regular or dual rated events--and I also tied for first in the July 20, 2023 Cincinnati Chess Club G/24 Swiss. My record for first place finishes in regular or dual rated events in a calendar year is 12 (2019); I also had nine first place finishes in 2005, eight in 1996 and 2009, and seven in four different years (1997, 1998, 2013, 2018). I have finished first in 149 regular or dual rated events overall, which does not approach the <a href="https://www.chessgames.com/player/john_a_curdo">unofficial record (more than 1000!) posted by New England FM John Curdo</a> but is nevertheless not too shabby for an Ohio Expert who has not traveled extensively outside of Ohio to play in tournaments.</p><p>I finished second in nine regular or dual rated events in 2023, surpassing my previous record (seven, 2008). Thus, I finished first or second in 18 out of my 39 regular or dual rated events in 2023.</p><p>However, the reason that my rating currently sits below 2000 instead of above 2100 is that I had awful results in the April 1, 2023 Indianapolis Super Tornado (2/5, lost 36 rating points), the June 10-11, 2023 Cleveland Open (2/5 in the U2100 section, lost 45 rating points), and the November 11-12, 2023 Kings Island Open (2/5 in the U2100 section, lost 43 rating points). The rating losses that I suffered in those three events more than wiped out the rating points that I gained during the rest of an otherwise successful year.</p>
<p>The two biggest challenges that I am facing are (1) fighting against my over the board impatience/impulsiveness and (2) battling against a young generation of quickly improving players.</p>
<p>Look at the rating list of the top 100 players in the
world, and you will see that most of the players were born in 2000 or
after: <a href="https://en.chessbase.com/post/fide-ratings-dezember-2023" target="_blank">December 2023 FIDE Rating List</a>. Only four players in the top 50 were born before 1980! The
point is that (1) youth matters in chess and (2) it is quite an
accomplishment to maintain one's level or even increase one's level
after the age of 40.</p><p>I embrace this challenge! My role models here are Wilhelm Steinitz and <a href="https://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2011/11/uncrowned-champion-viktor-korchnoi.html">Viktor Korchnoi</a>.</p><p>Steinitz reigned as World Champion until he was 61!</p><p>Korchnoi
played in his first World Championship match at age 47 and then
qualified again for the World Championship match at age 50. He was still
ranked in the world's top 100 at age 75 and he is the oldest national
champion ever (age 80, Switzerland). He played competitively until
suffering a stroke at age 81, but even after the stroke he defied the
odds and played a few matches before passing away at age 85.</p><p>I
reached the 2000 rating level for the first time in 1995 when I was 23, and every
year since that time my peak rating has been at least 2000; I sometimes
fall below 2000, but I always bounce back. I doubt that many non-Masters
have maintained a peak rating over 2000 every year for nearly 30 years. I am a consistently strong player for a non-professional, even though I am frustrated
that I have not reached a higher peak (yet!) than 2190.</p><p>I plan to update my Journey to the National Master title on a quarterly basis in 2024. My 2024 chess goals are:</p><p>1) Gain 60 rating points per quarter.</p><p>2) Do not lose any games to players rated below 1800.</p><p>3) Accumulate more draws than losses.</p><p>4) Maintain a winning percentage of at least .750, to break my personal record of .740 set in 2014.</p><p>Accomplishing those four goals will be sufficient to obtain the National Master title. Of course, that is much easier said than done, but it is important to articulate clear step by step goals in order to create a process to achieve those goals. Here, the process involves both preparation before each tournament and also some mindset adjustments during tournament play.</p><p>I am not afraid to publicly state goals now, and then look back in a year to see how I measured up.</p><p>In 2023, I scored 93 wins, 26 draws, and 36 losses in regular
rated tournament games with nine first place finishes in 39
events--but seven losses to players rated below 1750 were costly, and as a
result my net rating gain for 2023 is minus 44 points, so <b>I need to gain 232 points to reach my goal</b>.</p><p></p>David Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08444347475303187373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6812670776373470303.post-31470816549737394352023-11-02T02:49:00.002-04:002023-11-07T11:05:22.709-05:00Bobby Knight Did it His Way<p>Bobby Knight, who passed away yesterday at the age of 83, coached the Indiana Hoosiers to three NCAA basketball championships (1976, 1981, 1987) en route to setting the all-time record with 902 career wins. Knight held that mark for four years (2007-11), and he now <a href="https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/article/2023-07-26/mens-di-college-basketball-coaches-most-wins">ranks sixth on the career wins list behind only Mike Krzyzewski, Jim Boeheim, Bob Huggins, Jim Calhoun, and Roy Williams</a>. Although Knight will be remembered most for his time as Indiana's coach,
he also won an NCAA title as a role player for Ohio State's 1960 team
led by future Hall of Fame players Jerry Lucas and <a href="http://20secondtimeout.blogspot.com/2019/04/remembering-john-havlicek-ironman.html">John Havlicek</a>. Knight coached at West Point after finishing his college playing career and before coaching Indiana.<br /></p><p>Knight's 1976 Indiana team went 32-0 and is the last NCAA team to post a perfect record en route to winning the championship. The 1975 Hoosiers went 31-0 before losing to Kentucky in the Elite Eight as Indiana's star Scott May scored just two points while playing with a broken arm after scoring 25 points during Indiana's 98-74 regular season win versus Kentucky. Knight later insisted that his 1975 team was even better than the 1976 championship team. Knight won his second NCAA title with sophomore Isiah Thomas leading the way in 1981, and he won his third NCAA title in 1987 after Keith Smart hit a famous baseline shot versus Syracuse. John Wooden (10), Mike Krzyzewski (five), and Adolph Rupp (four) are the only coaches who won more NCAA titles than Knight, who is tied with Roy Williams and Jim Calhoun. <br /></p><p></p><p>Knight was inducted in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in
1991, even though he previously asked to not be considered after he was
offended that he had not been elected in his first year of eligibility,
calling that slight a "slap in the face." Knight is the only coach to win an NCAA title (1976, 1981, 1987), an NIT title (1979), an Olympic gold medal (1984), and a Pan-American Games gold medal (1979).<br /></p><p>Knight won without cheating, and he emphasized the importance of academics. He reportedly said that the fun part of coaching is not cheating to
get top recruits but beating the schools that cheated to get top
recruits. The great success of Knight's teams is even more remarkable considering that just one of Knight's players became an NBA All-Star: Isiah
Thomas. </p><p><a href="http://20secondtimeout.blogspot.com/2020/04/seth-davis-writes-definitive-john.html">Wooden</a>
and Knight are fascinating character studies: Wooden's demeanor was
much more gracious than Knight's, but the irascible Knight ran a clean
program while Wooden's program will forever have the shadow of crooked
booster Sam Gilbert hovering over it. Great men--or men who accomplish
great things--also often have great flaws. <br /></p><p>ESPN's multi-part, 20 hour documentary <a href="http://20secondtimeout.blogspot.com/2019/01/basketball-love-story.html">"Basketball: A Love Story" prominently featured Knight</a>, including his success coaching Team USA to the 1984 Olympic gold medal. Knight was a master basketball tactician whose teams played stifling man to man defense and ran a precision offense featuring crisp ball movement. Knight and Dick Schaap co-wrote a 1998 article detailing <a href="http://20secondtimeout.blogspot.com/2019/01/revisiting-bobby-knights-1998-plan-to.html">Knight's ideas about how to reform college basketball</a>; the basketball wisdom that Knight displayed 25 years ago is still relevant today, as he criticized the proliferation of unstructured summer leagues, the malign influence of the sneaker companies, and the overuse of the three point shot.</p><p>One of Knight's assistant coaches for the 1984 Olympics was Don Donoher, who coached at the University of Dayton from 1964-1989. Donoher led UD to the 1967 NCAA Championship game, the 1968 NIT title, and the 1984 NCAA Elite Eight. Knight was outraged after UD fired Donoher in 1989, declaring to Ritter Collett (a Dayton sports columnist), "When I was named coach of the U.S. Olympic team, nobody could have wanted to represent the United States better than I did. So why did I pick Donoher to help me? Because I couldn't get a better coach. I may not know a lot of things, but I think I know basketball and I know I know more basketball than (Tom) Frericks and Brother (Raymond L.) Fitz. Donoher has maintained a very good Division I basketball program during a period when his salary was probably $25,000 under the average Big Ten coaching salary. Over the years, I've had a lot of people call me and ask me if I thought Don would be interested in another coaching job. When I called him to ask if he was interested, he invariably said, 'No, I don't even want to talk to them.' He was content to stay in Dayton. He has had a love affair with the school and the community. I think that is what burns me the most. Here is a man who had chances to leave, and I'm talking about some major jobs that have come open. He has never gone in to Frericks and said, 'Look, I've got this opportunity and it will pay me such-and-such.' He's never tried to use that to improve his earning power."</p><p>In 2007, Knight spoke at the "Celebration of Flyer Basketball" and said, "There's nobody that I've enjoyed more as a friend, respected more as a coach and thought did a better job in coaching in the circumstances that developed throughout his tenure at the University of Dayton."<br /></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>In 2013, I reviewed Knight's book <b><a href="http://20secondtimeout.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-power-of-negative-thinking-bob.html">The Power of Negative Thinking</a></b>: </p><p></p><blockquote>Knight explains that there is "a large helping of my version of humor in the title chosen for this book" and adds, "I am <i>not</i>
arguing for being a strict negativist, for walking around with a sour
look, for always seeing the dark side, always expecting failure. That's
not my intent at all. Quite the opposite."<br />
<br />
Knight's thesis is that instead of blindly believing/hoping that an
endeavor is going to be successful, "being alert to the possible
negatives in any situation is the best way to bring about positive
results." Knight believes "Planning beats repairing" because "There are
so many unintended consequences in any important action that we need to
at least consider, like the best chess player, how our next move could
produce an unexpected chain reaction down the line."<br />
<br />
Knight observes, "<i>most</i> basketball games are <i>not won</i>, they are <i>lost</i>,"
so therefore Knight constantly reminded his players, "Victory favors
the team making the fewest mistakes." Considering his confrontational
reputation, it is not surprising that Knight also put a twist on a
famous advertising slogan when he declared to his teams, "This ain't
Burger King. We'll do it <i>my</i> way."<br />
<br />
"Negative thinking" in Knight's parlance is analogous to what the great
chess player/theoretician/writer Aron Nimzovich called "prophylaxis,"
which in chess means overprotecting a strategically important square,
thus ensuring the overall safety of the position and also providing for
smooth, harmonious deployment of one's forces.</blockquote><p></p><p>Of course, there was another, much less savory side to Knight: <a href="https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/college/indiana/2023/11/01/bobby-knight-controversies-when-iu-basketball-coach-courted-trouble/70371041007/">he was a bully whose inability to control his temper cost him his job at Indiana</a>.
Knight infamously threw a chair onto the court during a game, choked
one of his players, and committed battery versus a variety of people,
including a Puerto Rican police officer. The final act of Knight's
legendary coaching career happened at Texas Tech, where he landed in
2001 after being fired by Indiana in 2000. After <a href="https://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2008/02/general-abandons-his-troops-in-middle.html">Knight set the NCAA record for career wins, he retired in midseason</a>,
thus practically forcing Texas Tech to hire his son Pat as head coach.
Texas Tech went 4-7 down the stretch of the 2007-08 season, and Pat
Knight lasted lasted just three more seasons before being fired after
posting a 50-61 record. During a televised interview, Knight lashed out at Dick Schaap's son Jeremy--declaring that Jeremy had a long way to go to be as good as his father--and Dick Schaap rightly fired back at Knight that Knight would have been "outraged if someone had used him similarly to criticize his son Patrick, his assistant coach."</p><p>Knight had no filter. Dan Patrick asked Knight what he thought about the
Indiana University officials who fired him. Knight replied, "I hope
they're all dead." Patrick then noted that some of them had in fact
died, and Knight said, "Well, I hope the rest of them go." <br /></p><p>The paradox with Knight is that he taught his players to be disciplined yet he often lacked discipline in both his deeds and his words. "Complicated" may be the adjective most frequently used to describe his legacy, because there is no denying that he was a great coach who did not cheat and there is also no denying that he often treated people very shabbily. ESPN's Jay Bilas summarized his take on Knight: "He was OK with reasonable disagreement, as implausible as that seems to
those who didn't know him. But when he believed he was right, even when
he wasn't, there was no talking him out of it." Knight's intelligence combined with his stubbornness in a way that was both a great strength and a great weakness.<br /></p><p></p><p>If you are familiar with some of Knight's most memorable quotes, then you know that there is only one way this obituary can end, namely with the last wishes he expressed in a 1994 speech: "When my time on Earth is gone and my activities here are past, I want they bury me upside down and my critics can kiss my ass."</p>David Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08444347475303187373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6812670776373470303.post-8178369161965603102023-10-06T02:59:00.006-04:002023-10-07T19:35:23.224-04:00Dick Butkus: Quintessential Bear, Quintessential Linebacker<p>The Chicago Bears and the Arizona Cardinals are the only two original NFL franchises that still exist. The Bears were dubbed "Monsters of the Midway" during their glory years in the 1940s when they won four NFL titles (1940, 1941, 1943, 1946) in a seven year span, but no player embodied that "Monsters" ethos more than Dick Butkus, who passed away in his sleep yesterday at the age of 80. </p><p>Chicago native Butkus led the University of Illinois to a 17-7 Rose Bowl win versus Washington in 1964 before being drafted by his hometown Bears as the third overall selection in the 1965 NFL Draft, one pick ahead of fellow future Hall of Famer Gale Sayers. The legendary George Halas--who at various times played for, coached, and owned the Bears--was the team's coach and owner at that time, and he remained the coach through 1967. Butkus made the Pro Bowl in eight of his nine NFL seasons, missing out only in his last, injury-riddled campaign during which he played in just nine of 14 games. Butkus injured his right knee in high school, but he battled through the pain and limitations caused by that injury until he had nothing left and retired from the NFL at the age of 30; prior to his final season he played in 110 of a possible 112 games. Butkus was selected First Team All-Pro five times (1965, 1968-70, 1972). He finished his career with 22 interceptions, 27 fumble recoveries, one touchdown scored, one safety and two extra points; the last number requires some explanation: before the NFL added a two point conversion rule in 1994, if a team passed or ran the ball into the endzone on an extra point attempt that counted as one point. On November 14, 1971, the Bears beat the Washington Redskins 16-15, with <a href="https://www.chicagobears.com/news/butkus-caught-game-winning-pat-pass-19009184">Butkus providing the winning margin by catching a Bobby Douglass pass in the endzone</a> after the Bears botched the snap on an extra point attempt and were forced to go into scramble mode. You can see a video of the wild play <a href="https://touchdownwire.usatoday.com/2022/11/14/51-years-ago-no-51-dick-butkus-caught-a-pass-on-a-pat-to-give-the-bears-a-victory/">here</a>. In 1972, Butkus caught another extra point pass. </p><p>The numbers do not tell the full story of Butkus' impact--literally and figuratively. He was renowned--and feared--as perhaps the hardest hitting NFL player, and he took pride in the fact that after he hit someone the player did not have to try to figure out who made the play: a Dick Butkus tackle felt like no other. Although Butkus was a fierce player, he also took pride in playing within the rules, and when some Detroit players accused him of being a dirty player Butkus deeply resented the accusation, declaring, "No one but those jerks has ever called me a dirty player. I play as hard as I can. I try to hit as hard as I can. To
me that’s what the game is all about." </p><p>Butkus never played for an NFL champion or even for a playoff team. The lack of playoff success by a Chicago team that featured Butkus on
defense and Sayers on offense is a stark reminder that football is
perhaps the ultimate team sport: in basketball one dominant player can
carry a team, and in baseball a dominant pitcher can have a tremendous
impact, but in football even an elite player needs a lot of help in
order to enjoy team success. <a href="https://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2023/05/nfl-legend-jim-brown-has-passed-away-at.html">Jim Brown is arguably the greatest football player of all-time</a>, and his Cleveland teams posted a 1-2 record in the NFL Championship Game during his fabulous nine year NFL career.</p><p>Despite the lack of postseason success, in his nine NFL seasons--all spent with the Bears--Butkus earned recognition
as the prototypical linebacker. NFL Films President <a href="https://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2012/09/steve-sabol-artist-and-visionary.html">Steve Sabol</a> called Butkus the greatest defensive player of all-time, describing him as "A force of unmanageable
proportions, he was Moby Dick in a goldfish bowl. His
career as the middle linebacker for the Chicago Bears stands as the most
sustained work of devastation ever committed on a football field by
anyone, anywhere, anytime...No one played harder or better than Dick
Butkus." <br /></p><p>Butkus was selected to the NFL's All-Decade Teams for both the 1960s and the 1970s, he was inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1979 (the first year that he was eligible), and he was inducted in the College Football Hall of Fame in 1983. Starting in 1985, the <a href="https://www.thebutkusaward.com/">Butkus Award</a>
has been presented to the best linebacker in college football; since
2008, the Butkus Award has also been presented to the best NFL
linebacker and the best high school linebacker. </p><p></p><p>After he retired, Butkus became an actor in TV shows, TV commercials, and movies, and he did some football commentary as well. I suspect that the first time I ever saw Butkus was probably in a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPoI5BnKzuc">Miller Lite commercial</a> during an NFL telecast! I am too young to have seen Butkus play during his career, but I saw a
lot of NFL Films footage of him, so I understand why he was so respected
and so feared. I cannot find the exact quote, but I remember reading
something to the effect that it was not possible to block Butkus head
on, so players resorted to chipping him low, which infuriated Butkus
because he already had a bad knee. It is remarkable that Butkus played
nine seasons at such a high level under those conditions. </p><p>It is disconcerting to see so many people from my parents' generation--people who were in the prime of their lives when I was a child--getting old and passing away. For me, the 1970s and 1980s were a golden age in many different sports, even though I only remember the second half of the 1970s: when I think of great basketball I think first of <a href="http://20secondtimeout.blogspot.com/2013/08/julius-ervings-poetic-perspective-on.html">Julius Erving</a>, <a href="https://20secondtimeout.blogspot.com/2010/04/floppy-socked-mopped-top.html">Pete Maravich</a>, George Gervin, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird; when I think of great baseball I think first of the Big Red Machine teams, of <a href="https://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2023/04/reggie-personal-portrait-of-one-of.html">Reggie Jackson's clutch play with the New York Yankees</a>, and of <a href="https://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2008/07/eric-davis-like-having-atomic-bomb.html">Eric Davis' early career brilliance</a>; when I think of great football I think first of the dynastic Pittsburgh Steelers (even though as a Cleveland Browns fan I hate them); when I think of great tennis I think first of <a href="https://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2009/07/debunking-myths-about-bjorn-borg-john.html">Bjorn Borg</a>, Jimmy Connors, and John McEnroe; when I think of great boxing I think first of <a href="https://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2016/06/muhammad-alis-wit-and-wisdom.html">Muhammad Ali</a>. That does not mean that each of the listed players and teams was the greatest of all-time (although a strong case could be made for several of them), but rather just that my deep love of sports was forged by watching and admiring them. That time is long past, but the memories and the historical impact will live forever.</p><p>Butkus was from just before that time, but I have great respect for icons like Dick Butkus, Jim Brown, and Sandy Koufax who made such indelible impacts on the sports world despite having relatively brief careers. Today, the sports world generates more money than ever, and new technologies make it possible to watch more games in more ways than ever, yet it feels like something is missing.</p><p>Rest in peace, Dick Butkus, and enjoy your reunion with George Halas and the other legends from the past.</p>David Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08444347475303187373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6812670776373470303.post-19004215893588880732023-10-03T20:34:00.002-04:002023-10-03T20:42:02.870-04:00Journey to the National Master Title, Part 7<p>In the August 19, 2023 Dublin (Columbus, Ohio) Summer Open, I scored 3/4, but finished out of the money as three players tied for first place with 3.5/4. I drew with two of the first place finishers: National Master Charles Diebert (the top seeded player, with a pre-tournament rating of 2217), and Evan Fan, one of the top rated players in the country under the age of 10 (1794). I gained five rating points to push my rating up to 1991.</p><p>I scored 3.5/5 (three wins, one draw, and one loss) in the
U2100 section of the August 26-27, 2023 Indianapolis Open, finishing tied for fourth through eighth but losing three rating points. The difference between gaining points and losing points in this tournament--and the difference between potentially winning the U2100 section versus settling for a lesser prize--was how I handled being up an Exchange by move 12 as Black in the second round. Here is the position after my opponent played 13. Kxf1 (taking my Bishop after I had just captured his Rook) and then I replied ...Nd5, strongly centralizing my Knight:<br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh97YpzFbRTv1dZMbhMKgko83qO1S38tg-DcTKokWXVK1IO3B-35tfPqCdR5mzGGoEzMEpluBKKKH5MlmmeTgcKvhVIyTHoLkWsKF75yvW0BTnLqkrywSf3-2quU1l28kwy4uxFaSogJ9N4ccHHCbtK_5DD1DEnPWgB-lfccsQesdF-1X_L3_jLFvqidPN/s2725/Indy%20Open%201.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2611" data-original-width="2725" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh97YpzFbRTv1dZMbhMKgko83qO1S38tg-DcTKokWXVK1IO3B-35tfPqCdR5mzGGoEzMEpluBKKKH5MlmmeTgcKvhVIyTHoLkWsKF75yvW0BTnLqkrywSf3-2quU1l28kwy4uxFaSogJ9N4ccHHCbtK_5DD1DEnPWgB-lfccsQesdF-1X_L3_jLFvqidPN/s320/Indy%20Open%201.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> Here is the position just 11 moves later:<br /><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB3KTP9QNTO51v9F93njhNRH1slfRuCBkrcijKea80MwLcXh8FJ1L154DJXeuthyyHwuTq3Vg8Q-GwzJ8qKro_AO4uK-gRzualWc1bR153eywT3MdSANP9NJnQGKpYfOzXFJUiNYHj_-nNFVK91fGDYBJ_DWMkqYS1v_vG46n0QKG6bY-WcwW55wlCOEVs/s2381/Indy%20Open%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2381" data-original-width="2367" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB3KTP9QNTO51v9F93njhNRH1slfRuCBkrcijKea80MwLcXh8FJ1L154DJXeuthyyHwuTq3Vg8Q-GwzJ8qKro_AO4uK-gRzualWc1bR153eywT3MdSANP9NJnQGKpYfOzXFJUiNYHj_-nNFVK91fGDYBJ_DWMkqYS1v_vG46n0QKG6bY-WcwW55wlCOEVs/s320/Indy%20Open%202.jpg" width="318" /></a></div><p>What happened to my extra Exchange, and what happened to my Queen? The moves between the two diagrams were <b>14. Rb1 Nb4 </b>Objectively this is fine, but there is no reason to seek complications when you are up an Exchange: 14...Nxc3 15. dxc3 d5 is a simple and direct way to play. <b>15. Qd1 Qa5 16. Ne5 d6 17. Nc4 Qa6 18. Kg1 d5 19. Nxa3 Bxc3 20. dxc3 Nxa2 21. Bb2 Qxa3??</b> I thought that I was simplifying to a position in which my two Rooks would be better than my opponent's Queen but--needless to say--I miscalculated. I should have played 21...Qa5 22. Qe1 Nb4 This is the idea that I missed during the game: if my opponent takes my Knight with his Pawn then his Knight is trapped after I take back with my Pawn. </p><p>The game continued: <b>22. Bxa3 Nxc3 23. Qe1 Nxb1 24. Bxc5.</b> I underestimated my opponent's 24th move; I would be winning if he had taken my Knight and I had then taken his Bishop, but this intermezzo puts him on top. He soon gave me one chance to equalize, but I missed the opportunity to fully activate my Rooks and then it was downhill from there, as his Queen and Bishop proved to be too powerful.</p><p>After the first three rounds of the Indianapolis Open, I played in the
Indianapolis Open Saturday Night Blitz, scoring 5/8. I finished tied for seventh through tenth out of 32 players. I lost my mini match with National Master Joseph Cheng-Yue Wan 2-0, and he went on to tie for first place with FIDE Master Arvind Jayaraman at 7/8 each. My USCF blitz rating remained unchanged (1816).<br /></p><p>I scored 2/5 in the Open section of the September 2-3, 2023 <a href="http://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2015/01/history-of-ohio-chess-congress.html">Ohio Chess Congress</a>, finishing out of the money but gaining 21 rating points to push my rating back over 2000 (2009). I drew with two National Masters: Justin Storn--who is the new Ohio Chess Champion (he finished tied for second overall behind Grandmaster Alex Fishbein, who is not an Ohio resident)--and two-time Ohio Chess Champion (2005, 2013) William Wright. I have drawn with and defeated many Ohio Chess Champions in rated tournament games, but I have not won the Ohio Chess Championship, though I contend that John Lodger Hughes and I should be recognized as co-Ohio Chess Champions for 2010; we were the highest scoring Ohio residents in that year's Ohio Chess Congress, but the Ohio Chess Champion title was inexplicably granted to the overall first place finisher despite there being no information proving that he was an Ohio resident (that player, <a href="https://lichess.org/coach/siddy2006">IM Siddharth Ravichandran, is a resident of Chennai, India</a> and the 2010 Ohio Chess Congress is the only tournament he ever played in Ohio).<br /></p><p></p><p>After the first three rounds of the Ohio Chess Congress, I played in the Ohio Chess Congress Saturday Night Blitz, scoring 5/8. I started out 5/6, and so I played National Master Jesse Ren on board one in the last round. Ren beat me 2-0 in our mini match, just like he beat me 2-0 in our mini match in the June 10, 2023 Cleveland Open Saturday Night Blitz. I gained 14 rating points, pushing my USCF blitz rating to 1830.</p><p>I scored 2/3 in the top section of the September 9, 2023 Dublin (Columbus, Ohio) G/60 tournament, tying for second through fourth place. I gained four rating points to improve to 2013. Two weeks later, I scored 3.5/4 in the September 23, 2023 Columbus G/45 tournament, gaining 22 rating points to lift my rating to 2035. In round three, I defeated the number one seeded player, National Master Charles Diebert, who has been one of Ohio's top players for well over 30 years. Despite my great result, I did not win a prize, as two players in the 55 player field finished with 4/4.</p><p></p><p>The Ohio Senior Open tournament is one my favorite annual events, as it provides a great opportunity to catch up with--and compete against--players who I have known for more than three decades. Organizer/chief tournament director Grant Neilley does a wonderful job, and I would encourage anyone who is eligible to participate in next year's event, which is scheduled for the weekend of September 28, 2024. One of the highlights this year was a contest for the most interesting or unusual chess set. Charles Diebert won in the non-Staunton set category with this beautiful set that his mother gave to him over 40 years ago; a friend of hers handcrafted it from ceramic materials:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkZtv_6dK79n7GAXDl5fVf4MJdnLqnaNSUltWTQP1MC_RgaqFFos0JVyVNlyHteMX1pap6bED04KsthIFwn62ZH2fnj2xeh1YfVOVjvkOgB0ei6UHsiKhuDVFsy4gvT122oelcwJC6up4l4OZWvUnU79GAnmcUSyGCaW3ZtAJFSBm_v0ZwJl9zi5ZaRzcc/s2446/30Sept2023%20Charles%20Diebert's%20Chess%20Set.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2446" data-original-width="2103" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkZtv_6dK79n7GAXDl5fVf4MJdnLqnaNSUltWTQP1MC_RgaqFFos0JVyVNlyHteMX1pap6bED04KsthIFwn62ZH2fnj2xeh1YfVOVjvkOgB0ei6UHsiKhuDVFsy4gvT122oelcwJC6up4l4OZWvUnU79GAnmcUSyGCaW3ZtAJFSBm_v0ZwJl9zi5ZaRzcc/s320/30Sept2023%20Charles%20Diebert's%20Chess%20Set.jpg" width="275" /></a></div><br /><p>Peter Galupo won in the Staunton set category:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1k6HVZOku6iaqfdFVGNZ7iYxbjOU1LeQiGT8K4x92Mg6vqOyH8K5tPrHvaBktWjoet2Y8DEp4ix1C_tJ6AejTsmxXcRjYyUF5S5Miv0WvZVnHUb9uJdEWgyJwgMJ0kEsN3s4PXm7-CiIBnjRMl-n5rMtlVKy4L4nSe23ML9O8lQ4Jz1Mz12pBrUhQSeLw/s1537/30Sept2023%20Peter%20Galupo's%20Chess%20Set.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1537" data-original-width="1048" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1k6HVZOku6iaqfdFVGNZ7iYxbjOU1LeQiGT8K4x92Mg6vqOyH8K5tPrHvaBktWjoet2Y8DEp4ix1C_tJ6AejTsmxXcRjYyUF5S5Miv0WvZVnHUb9uJdEWgyJwgMJ0kEsN3s4PXm7-CiIBnjRMl-n5rMtlVKy4L4nSe23ML9O8lQ4Jz1Mz12pBrUhQSeLw/s320/30Sept2023%20Peter%20Galupo's%20Chess%20Set.jpg" width="218" /></a></div><p></p><p>I scored 3.5/5 in the September 30-October 1, 2023 Ohio Senior Open,
losing four rating points to drop to 2031. I tied for fourth-fifth overall, and received
the trophy for first place in the 50-59 age group. John Bath won the
tournament on tiebreaks over Alan Casden
(who defeated me in round three) and Mike Sheaf. Those three players
each scored 4/5. This is the third consecutive year that I have
participated in this event, which is open to anyone who is at least 50
years old (or who turns 50 before December 31 in the year that the
tournament is held); each time, I have scored 3.5/5, and each time my
only loss has been to a player who finished first or tied for first. In
both 2021 and 2022 I won the third place trophy on tiebreaks. I was the
fifth seeded player out of 22 Open section participants this year, I was
the fourth seeded player out of 24 Open section participants in 2022,
and I was the ninth seeded player out of 31 Open section participants in
2021. In other words, I have finished higher than my seeding each year;
I like to think of this being equivalent to a race car driver who
consistently finishes higher than his qualifying position, because I
have "passed" players en route to winning a prize in each of these three
tournaments. </p><p>In the past 12 months, I have scored 50% against National Masters in regular rated tournament games (one win, four draws, one loss). I drew my game in the Ohio Chess Congress versus the eventual champion, National Master Justin Storn (and I also drew a quick rated game versus Storn in the July 20, 2023 Cincinnati Chess Club G/24 Swiss as he and I shared first place with 3.5/4). I have often demonstrated that I can play National Master level chess. Why have I yet to break the 2200 rating barrier, and why is my current rating below 2100? My journey to National Master has been slowed down by two issues: </p><p>1) My unfortunate proclivity to squander winning positions, most recently demonstrated in the above example from the second round of the Indianapolis Open. This year alone I have cost myself at least 100 rating points by losing objectively winning games to lower rated opponents.<br /></p><p>2) Many young players are significantly underrated, in part because during the early days of COVID over the board play paused while online play increased, which created a large group of young players whose over the board ratings lag far behind their actual playing strength. FIDE, the governing body of international chess, plans to address this issue by providing a one-time rating increase to the 85% of chess players whose FIDE ratings are below 2000; <a href="https://fide.com/news/2538">this increase is scheduled to take place in January 2024, subject to final approval by the FIDE Council in October 2023</a>. </p><p>What can I do to address these two issues? Regarding the first issue, I must be more aware of my opponent's threats, particularly in positions that seem to be easy wins (there are no easy wins!). I remember what <a href="https://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2013/09/enjoying-process.html">Senior Master Boris Men once told me about how to win from a winning position--"You must play against your opponent's play"</a>--but I must apply that wisdom in practice as opposed to just understanding it in theory. There is not much that I can do about the second issue, though perhaps it is worth considering playing in tournaments in which I am less likely to play against underrated young players.<br /></p><p></p><p></p><p>In 2023, I have scored 68 wins, 17 draws, and 22 losses in regular
rated tournament games with eight first place finishes in 27
events--but five losses to players rated below 1750 were costly, and as a
result my net rating gain for 2023 is 19 points, so <b>I need to gain 169 points to reach my goal</b>. </p>David Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08444347475303187373noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6812670776373470303.post-84995755772044434932023-09-06T01:03:00.002-04:002023-09-06T01:09:55.807-04:00Vladimir Kramnik Loses His Mind After Losing an Online Blitz Game to Hans Niemann<p>Grandmaster Hans Niemann can now play at Chess.com again after <a href="http://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2023/08/magnus-carlsen-and-chesscom-reached.html">settling his lawsuit against Chess.com and former World Champion Magnus Carlsen</a>, with both Chess.com and Carlsen publicly acknowledging that there is no evidence that Niemann cheated in over the board games in general and specifically in <a href="http://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2022/09/put-up-or-shut-up-hans-niemanns.html">the Sinquefield Cup game when Niemann defeated Carlsen</a>. Niemann returned to Chess.com in style, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHxq0Hf9LWk">beating former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik in a blitz game</a>. Instead of taking the loss like a man, Kramnik accepted a rematch, but replied to Niemann's e4 with ...f6, and then answered d4 with ...g5, allowing Fool's Mate. Kramnik was trolling Niemann, who resigned rather than playing Qh5 mate. Niemann responded to Kramnik's disgraceful display by simply saying that he has much respect for Kramnik and does not understand why Kramnik did this. Niemann apparently felt that he took the high road by resigning, but if I had been in his shoes I would have checkmated Kramnik and trolled back by saying something like, "I beat this guy so thoroughly last game that he forgot how to play chess and fell into the Fool's Mate." If Kramnik wanted to lose like a fool, Niemann should have fulfilled his wish.<br /></p><p>Kramnik behaved like a petulant child--just like Carlsen did after losing to Niemann--because Kramnik is too arrogant and insecure to admit that Niemann outplayed him. Rather than losing with dignity and grace, Kramnik--echoing Carlsen's shameful behavior when <a href="https://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2022/09/magnus-carlsens-resignation-after-one.html">Carlsen resigned against Niemann after one move rather than play against him in the online $150,000 Generation Cup tournament</a>--chose to make a mockery of the rematch game, likely assuming that people will pay more attention and credence to the implication that Niemann is a cheater than to the fact that Niemann outclassed Kramnik in the prior game. </p><p>If you have followed Kramnik's career, then you know that he has never lost a post-mortem analysis session; his <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGOqFVNfhhY">post-game press conference performance after drawing with future World Champion Ding Liren </a>is legendary--and not in a good way, because Kramnik comes across as either incredibly delusional or insufferably arrogant. If you don't watch the whole video, at least check out around the one minute mark when Kramnik is running his big mouth about how he is winning before Ding quietly but confidently refutes Kramnik's moves. Kramnik still insists that he is better, but Ding just chuckles and says, "I don't think so." <br /></p><p>In short, Kramnik has always been a sore loser (or "drawer" in the game with Ding Liren), so his behavior after Niemann beat him is par for the course. What first Carlsen and now Kramnik are making abundantly clear is that the tight circle of elite Grandmasters who are invited to big money tournaments to play against each other do not want an interloper joining their club. They don't like Niemann, they don't respect Niemann, and they don't want him to ever be included. It is not clear if Niemann will ever become a top 10 player--his peak to this point has been 31st in the world rankings earlier this year--but it is very clear that Carlsen and Kramnik are afraid of the mere possibility that Niemann will crack the exclusive private club where a handful of chess players make far more money than even other Grandmasters make.</p><p>It is worth emphasizing that there is no evidence that Niemann has ever cheated in over the board competition, nor is there any reason to believe that he cheated in his recent win versus Kramnik--but there is plenty of evidence about who Kramnik is and how he will be remembered by knowledgeable, objective observers. </p><p>History will not remember Kramnik as a great World Champion or as one of the 10 greatest players of all-time; yes, he beat Garry Kasparov in the 2000 World Championship match, but by that time Kasparov had already reigned as the World Champion for 15 years. Kramnik's reign lasted just over half as long as Kasparov's. Kramnik spent eight years as World Champion before <a href="https://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2008/11/viswanathan-anand-becomes-15th-world.html">losing the title to Viswanathan Anand</a>, who Kasparov defeated 10.5-7.5 in the 1995 World Championship match. </p><p>When Kasparov retired from top level chess in 2005, he remained the highest rated player in the world, and he had received the Chess Oscar--the chess world's Player of the Year award--a record 11 times, including in both 2001 and 2002 when Kramnik was the World Champion. Anatoly Karpov is second with nine Chess Oscars, while Kramnik received the award just twice. </p><p>Shamefully, Kramnik did everything in his power to avoid a World Chess Championship rematch with Kasparov, knowing full well that Kasparov had an excellent chance of retaking the crown. An <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/garry-kasparov-king-without-a-crown-9206901.html">exasperated Kasparov criticized Kramnik's refusal to arrange a rematch</a>:</p><p></p><blockquote><p>I believe it is the duty of the world champion to defend his title
against the most dangerous opponent. When I beat Karpov in 1985 I was
forced to defend my title against him within eight months. The
organizers and the public believed that Kramnik was the most dangerous
opponent, so I had to play him--I had no choice. Kramnik knows this and
now he is champion he must prove to the world he is "real" by facing
his most dangerous opponent--me.</p><p>In the last six months I have proved I am still the world number one and
I beat Kramnik recently. But now Kramnik, who was not made to win a
qualifier to play me, implies that I must qualify to play him. I don't
want to diminish the importance of his victory. He deserved to win. But
it is Kramnik's turn to prove Kasparov didn't go mad in London. The
public need another match to prove Kramnik is the real thing. <br /></p><p></p></blockquote><p></p><p>Kasparov and Kramnik played 10 tournament games against each other after their 2000 World Championship match, with Kasparov scoring one win and nine draws. Kasparov's victory came on the White side of the Ruy Lopez Berlin Defense, demonstrating that he had figured out how to defeat the main weapon Kramnik used to wrest the title away from Kasparov. </p><p>As noted above, after losing or drawing games Kramnik tends to insist that he was winning all the way until the end, despite the fact that his assertions are often demonstrably false--but if we take Kramnik at his word that he has squandered numerous winning positions then perhaps he is the biggest choker in the history of elite level chess; after all, Kramnik committed <a href="https://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-beauty-wonder-mystery-and-horror-of_9.html">one of the most ghastly blunders ever made by an elite player</a> when he fell into a mate in one in the second game of his six game match versus the supercomputer Deep Fritz.</p><p>How can chess be promoted as a big-time sport and be taken seriously by the public if top players behave like whining crybabies when they lose, and if top players (and media members) throw around unsubstantiated cheating allegations? Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura recently whined about being dragged into Niemann's lawsuit, but Nakamura was not dragged into anything: he opened his mouth to spew unsubstantiated cheating allegations against Niemann and as a direct result of that Niemann sued him. "Start no stuff and there will be no stuff" would be a good mantra for Nakamura to live by in the future. Further, if Nakamura is truly interested in promoting chess as opposed to just generating more clicks and obtaining more viewers, then he should think twice about making unsubstantiated accusations that cast aspersions on the sport. There is a reason that the NBA fines owners, coaches, and players who make negative statements about officiating: such statements are bad for the league.<br /></p><p>Nakamura is more of a chess streamer than a full-time player at this point, so he may figure that anything that creates content is good for his business model in the long run. Kramnik has retired from top level play for the most part, but he often speaks about promoting the game, as does Carlsen--but Carlsen and Kramnik seem much more interested in promoting themselves and their brands than in promoting the game. For instance, Carlsen's <a href="http://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2022/07/magnus-carlsens-decision-to-not-defend.html">refusal to defend his World Championship title</a> is bad for chess: why should anyone outside of the chess community take the World Championship seriously if the World Champion does not take it seriously? Note that Carlsen has not retired from chess; he is very busy playing in a host of big money tournaments--usually invitation-only--which is not only lucrative for him but also keeps his name in public view, which helps him promote his businesses and corporate sponsorships that are providing the bulk of his income now. <br /></p><p>There is good reason to believe that the ratings of the top chess players are inflated now because they have essentially created a separate rating pool amongst themselves (and the ratings of other chess players are likely deflated, but that is a topic for another day). Instead of whining about losing games to Niemann, it would be great to see Carlsen--and other elite players--participate more often in open tournaments so that they put their money--and their rating points--where their big mouths are. <br /></p>David Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08444347475303187373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6812670776373470303.post-49568056288324636652023-08-29T11:50:00.003-04:002023-08-29T17:41:38.943-04:00Magnus Carlsen and Chess.com Reached a Settlement Agreement With Hans Niemann<p>Magnus Carlsen and Chess.com have reached a settlement agreement resolving Hans Niemann's claims against them, thus avoiding further litigation. <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/mollybohannon/2023/06/27/checkmate-judge-tosses-hans-niemanns-100-million-lawsuit-over-chess-cheating-claims/?sh=4ca5fed01303">On June 27, 2023, Judge Audrey Fleissig of the Eastern District of Missouri dismissed with prejudice the antitrust claims</a> in Niemann's <a href="https://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2022/10/hans-niemann-ties-for-fifth-in-us.html">federal district court lawsuit against Carlsen, Chess.com, and Hikaru Nakamura</a>--meaning that Niemann can never file that same claim against the same parties based on the same set of alleged facts--but Niemann retained the right to file his defamation claims at the state court level, and he had made clear his intention to do so. </p><p>After Niemann beat Carlsen over the board in the prestigious Sinquefield Cup tournament last year, Carlsen--despite <a href="http://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2022/09/put-up-or-shut-up-hans-niemanns.html">zero credible evidence that Niemann cheated against him in that Sinquefield Cup game</a>--not only withdrew from the Sinquefield Cup but he later <a href="https://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2022/09/magnus-carlsens-resignation-after-one.html">resigned after one move versus Niemann in a major tournament with a $150,000 prize fund</a>, thereby skewing the pairings for all of the tournament's participants; as I wrote at that time, "By throwing a game to Niemann without a fight and then competing hard
against all of the other players, Carlsen has placed every player other
than Niemann at a disadvantage. In short, there is no proof that Niemann
cheated against Carlsen, but there is proof that Carlsen threw a game.
As Grandmaster Jon Ludvig Hammer--a fellow Norwegian Grandmaster who has
served as Carlsen's second--declared, '<span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0">It's
completely unacceptable behaviour to lose on purpose. It's the most
unsportsmanlike [act] you can do in a competitive sport.'"</span> <br /></p><p>Each party issued a statement regarding the settlement:</p><p></p><p>Chess.com: "We are pleased to report that we have reached an agreement with Hans Niemann to put our differences behind us and move forward together without further litigation. At this time, Hans has been fully reinstated to Chess.com, and we look forward to his participation in our events. We would also like to reaffirm that we stand by the findings in our October 2022 public report regarding Hans, including that we found no determinative evidence that he has cheated in any in-person games. We all love chess and appreciate all of the passionate fans and community members who allow us to do what we do."</p><p></p><p>Magnus Carlsen: "I acknowledge and understand Chess.com's report, including its statement that there is no determinative evidence that Niemann cheated in his game against me at the Sinquefield Cup. I am willing to play Niemann in future events, should we be paired together." </p><p></p><p>Hans Niemann: "I am pleased that my lawsuit against Magnus Carlsen and Chess.com has been resolved in a mutually acceptable manner, and that I am returning to Chess.com. I look forward to competing against Magnus in chess rather than in court and am grateful to my attorneys at Oved & Oved for believing in me and helping me resolve the case." </p><p>It is not clear if Chess.com or Carlsen paid any money to Niemann as part of this settlement. The key elements of this settlement are (1) the public acknowledgment by both Chess.com and Carlsen that there is no evidence that Niemann cheated in any in-person games, (2) Carlsen stating that he will play against Niemann in future events, and (3) Chess.com fully reinstating Niemann. In short, this is a win for Niemann regarding his assertion that he has not cheated in over the board play, regarding his attempt to be reinstated at Chess.com, and regarding his participation in over the board events without concern that Carlsen would refuse to play against him or refuse to play in the same events with him.</p><p>It is worth emphasizing that Niemann's 2699 performance rating in the 2022 U.S. Championship--his debut appearance in that event, taking place under intense scrutiny in the wake of the anti-Niemann actions and statements by Carlsen, Chess.com, Nakamura, and others--matched his pre-tournament rating of 2699. A 2700 FIDE rating is considered the benchmark for elite status, so Niemann demonstrated--in an event with strict anti-cheating measures--that he can play at or near elite level in a major tournament against top Grandmasters. Niemann is relatively young and he is known for being a hard-working chess player, so it is reasonable to assume that he could push his rating well above 2700 (he achieved his peak rating of 2708 in May 2023).<br /></p><p>There is a regrettable and growing trend to deny the meaning and value of objective truth/objective standards, and to base decisions on feelings as opposed to evidence, which has created what is often referred to as "cancel culture": a person or organization can be "canceled" because of how people feel about that person or organization regardless of whether there is any evidence that the accused person or organization violated any laws or committed any misconduct. That is what Chess.com and Carlsen attempted to do to Niemann: cancel him because of how they feel about him, regardless of what the evidence shows. It should be added that this type of flawed thinking regarding the meaning and value of objective truth/objective standards has also led to the popularization of the idea that people should be rewarded with scholarships and jobs based not on the objective merits of each applicant but on subjective determinations of equity and entitlement; discussion of that idea is beyond the scope of this article, but the implications of reorganizing society based on subjective feelings are significant: do you want your fate in the hands of the best qualified person to make a medical diagnosis, to decide a court case, or to fly a plane, or do you want your fate in the hands of a person who has subjectively been deemed worthy of receiving an unearned benefit in the name of equity/entitlement? America is founded on principles of equality, while Orwell's <b>Animal Farm</b> depicts what happens when a society is founded on the principle that everyone is equal but some people are more equal than others; when merit and objectivity are replaced with feelings and subjectivity, chaos ensues. <br /></p><p>Here, the reality is that both Carlsen and Chess.com acted improperly because they defamed Niemann without evidence supporting their assertions, and because their actions harmed Niemann's status as a professional chess player. I am not a Niemann fan and I condemn his admitted online cheating, but unless or until past online cheating is considered disqualifying for over the board play one's online conduct and one's over the board conduct are separate issues. Further, Chess.com had already dealt with Niemann's prior online cheating, so the principle of <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/res_judicata">res judicata</a> (that which has been litigated before cannot be litigated again) should have applied in the sense that Niemann should not be punished twice for the same offense; he was punished for his proven online cheating, so it was wrong for Chess.com to ban Niemann after Carlsen's petulant behavior and unfounded accusations/insinuations.</p>David Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08444347475303187373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6812670776373470303.post-36375550316279313602023-07-25T23:04:00.005-04:002023-10-02T22:45:10.282-04:00Journey to the National Master Title, Part 6<p>In the June 10-11, 2023 Cleveland Open, I scored 2/5 in the U2100 section, losing 41 rating points--my worst single tournament rating loss since I dropped 45 rating points in the U2100 section of the 2018 Cleveland Open (I also lost 40 rating points in the U2100 section of the 2022 Chicago Open). It is odd that my two worst rating performances in recent memory both happened in the Cleveland Open, because overall I have done quite well in that event, winning a prize in four of my first six appearances there before these last two duds (I did not play in the event from 2019-2022). </p><p>After the first three rounds of the Cleveland Open, I played in the
Cleveland Open Saturday Night Blitz, scoring 5/8; I beat number one seed Wilson Spaqi
(rated 2340) 2-0 in our mini match, and the only mini match that I lost
was to National Master Jesse Ren, who won the event with an 8/8 score. I
finished out of the money, but I added 16 points to my USCF blitz
rating. Although blitz chess and regular rated chess are two different
types of events--the former is like running a sprint, while the latter
is like running a marathon--my ability to sandwich two wins against a
strong National Master around tournament losses to players who each have ratings more than
200 points lower than my rating epitomizes the contrasting joys and
frustrations of being a chess player: I know what it looks and feels
like when my talent and preparation mesh, and I know what it looks and
feels like when my talent and preparation do not produce the results
that I expect.</p><p>There have been a few large rating losses in my career that were perhaps predictable/preventable in the sense that--because of factors unrelated to chess--I should have known that I would likely be in less than optimal form. However, my two worst tournaments of 2023--the Cleveland Open, and the April 1, 2023 Indianapolis Super Tornado, where I lost 36 rating points--were not predictable/preventable; I felt good mentally and physically before both tournaments, I prepared well, and overall this year I have played well: my winning percentage (.728) is the second best for any year in my chess career, and I have finished first in eight out of 21 events.</p><p>It is frustrating to have a bad result--particularly after putting so much work into chess for so long--but I understand a bad result to be a reminder that are always more things to learn, not only about chess from a technical standpoint but also about the psychology of chess (including overconfidence, relying too much on instinct and not enough on calculation, and so forth). I know some players who withdraw from a tournament if they lose their first game, but it is unusual for me to withdraw from a tournament; I prefer to fight until the end, which sometimes has resulted in me salvaging a tournament that started poorly and other times has resulted in me digging a deeper hole. In general, I agree with something that Grandmaster Alex Goldin told me over 20 years ago regarding why he does not believe in withdrawing from a tournament unless you are ill or there is some other kind of emergency: the best way to learn how to play better chess is to keep playing chess! Every game contains a potential lesson, and is a stepping stone for improvement, so withdrawing from a tournament just slows down the growth process. On the rare occasions when I withdrew from a tournament I did so because I felt that I was too upset or fatigued by previous losses to keep fighting any more, and that I needed to cut my losses and regroup for my next tournament.</p><p></p><p>One consistent pattern in my chess career is that I tend to bounce back strongly after a bad performance. After my disastrous Indianapolis Super Tornado, I won a prize in each of my next seven tournaments prior to my poor performance in the Cleveland Open. In my first tournament after the Cleveland Open, I scored 2/3 in the Dublin (Columbus, Ohio) G/60 Swiss, tying for second place while gaining eight rating points. In the last round, I beat Nicholas Bize, a talented young player who defeated me in the first round of the Cleveland Open. The Dublin G/60 Swiss had 56 participants in seven sections consisting of eight players each; I was the fourth seeded player in the top section--with each of the top three players outrating me by at least 100 points--so a second place tie was a good result, but the best part of the day was sharing the experience with my daughter Rachel, who participated in her third regular rated tournament. Rachel was the lowest rated player in the sixth section, so she had a good learning experience while losing all three of her games.</p><p style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGJEmUIVRvFOo49V06OEXmK6QBjgyzFDP44GKtsbBKuWElvyzA562cYlZmPQfjmkBCNwhoQaFFQlxtpkWHQwy2k5aXKX-jHo8OahSrOGV3sPHMGDzRm2EuIhpTQ82PZFZ0M_ufMQ7NQU-VuMHOs6fMV4_PJ3ygpuRKPvVn2w06j2KyAd9MxsK1eX8TSc_C/s1544/IMG_0112.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1544" data-original-width="1158" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGJEmUIVRvFOo49V06OEXmK6QBjgyzFDP44GKtsbBKuWElvyzA562cYlZmPQfjmkBCNwhoQaFFQlxtpkWHQwy2k5aXKX-jHo8OahSrOGV3sPHMGDzRm2EuIhpTQ82PZFZ0M_ufMQ7NQU-VuMHOs6fMV4_PJ3ygpuRKPvVn2w06j2KyAd9MxsK1eX8TSc_C/s320/IMG_0112.jpg" width="240" /></a> <br /></p><p><i>Rachel and I had a great time at the 6/24/23 Dublin G/60 Swiss</i> <br /></p><p>On June 29, Rachel and I played in the Cincinnati Chess Club's G/24 Swiss. That event only affected our USCF quick ratings, but any chess played is part of the journey to National Master even if it does not impact my regular rating. I scored 3/4 to finish in clear second place, losing only to Russell Velasquez, who took clear first with 4/4. Rachel lost all four of her games, but she had a great time, and she even played casual chess games before and after the tournament.</p><p style="text-align: left;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjobT8nOv67wsppwZehdAbZaE4dTQ_HB2BfShX9d8EEKnQn8RFnaK3p8K_H7k-c-AGVAmQyqxRyv0Rg_XTSbZbRGtjzUfUTb4adXGcK4ZZETWaFN_f776bdgtj01gcgC2aZB7mnZMeMe22RKT0PevkV9dmHisTAaRAtdRthaH26LkXs-lYv0gXLcItEhbay/s2016/IMG_0442.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjobT8nOv67wsppwZehdAbZaE4dTQ_HB2BfShX9d8EEKnQn8RFnaK3p8K_H7k-c-AGVAmQyqxRyv0Rg_XTSbZbRGtjzUfUTb4adXGcK4ZZETWaFN_f776bdgtj01gcgC2aZB7mnZMeMe22RKT0PevkV9dmHisTAaRAtdRthaH26LkXs-lYv0gXLcItEhbay/s320/IMG_0442.jpg" width="320" /></a></i> <br /></p><p><i>A free candy bar is just one reason to smile at the 6/29/23 Cincinnati Chess Club G/24 Swiss </i><br /></p><p>Rachel and I played in the "Chess for Change!" tournament at the Delaware Main Library on July 15. I scored 3/4 in the Open section and lost one rating point. I finished tied for third place, but out of the money as only the first two places received prizes. Rachel lost all four of her games in the U1200 section.</p><p>Below the 2400 level, many if not most games are decided by tactical oversights; that is how I lost in the third round versus Expert Ben Al-Shami (2112), and that is how I won in the fourth round versus Sanjay Medicherla (1610).<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh1PTW-D5cJ9-jcv9SMCvi6vw7WN-drKo8IKZ4JrGvoJBbAXxXoCJ-6lKrJp-HrxC29mOKjiyAKWupMxDMyatbnUKM3h8yRjvuPEnLYw9g9cJR6g_tsi6ibUBxOqdDSSMg6QlsmNBr4bxow142yIUdqPeEABwfjJEsyWNfTd_7bVMosJt7UUWHiAI8a69M/s2376/Friedman%20Al-Shami%20Disaster.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2371" data-original-width="2376" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh1PTW-D5cJ9-jcv9SMCvi6vw7WN-drKo8IKZ4JrGvoJBbAXxXoCJ-6lKrJp-HrxC29mOKjiyAKWupMxDMyatbnUKM3h8yRjvuPEnLYw9g9cJR6g_tsi6ibUBxOqdDSSMg6QlsmNBr4bxow142yIUdqPeEABwfjJEsyWNfTd_7bVMosJt7UUWHiAI8a69M/s320/Friedman%20Al-Shami%20Disaster.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p>In the above position versus Al-Shami, Rxf8+ wins routinely. After Black recaptures, White plays Kf2, and if Black takes on b3 then Ke3 blockades Black's passed pawns so ...Bxa4 fails to Rc4 while any other sensible move enables White to play a5; since Black's King is cut off by White's Rook, Black will be forced to give up his Bishop for the a Pawn. However, I "improved" on this line by playing Kf2 first to gain a tempo--but, of course, that gives Black the opportunity to save his Queen by playing ...Be8. If I had beaten Al-Shami I would have clinched at least a tie for second place, and I would have played top seeded National Master Lokesh Palani on board one with an opportunity to win or share first place.<br /></p><p></p><p>In the fourth and final round, I won a back and forth game that was also decided by a tactical oversight. In the position below (shown from Black's perspective) after my opponent blundered with Rb5??, I played ...Rd8+, forcing his King to abandon his Bishop. I soon collected the c Pawn, placed my Rook behind the passed a Pawn, and prepared to advance my passed d Pawn. My opponent then resigned with just one second left on his clock and a hopeless position on the board.<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg92O7H1u1tuy_CGQbWoPQQjPItICTbqH9sA3x8DRUzQ5JR6fOgHBPlhyqp_5FAjl2zcRH2fAeWpnpHid2PIO5KzdaGMz3SfPbuEREkcLJXnA1IOpbSA-Y7-lZqnH2bDq028rIPi7MclHLg5LJq1cvw0ORTwrZAHscrCE0rBqPVZCdc19vMVNBaL1emmExn/s2264/Friedman%20Medicherla%20Blunder.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2264" data-original-width="2256" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg92O7H1u1tuy_CGQbWoPQQjPItICTbqH9sA3x8DRUzQ5JR6fOgHBPlhyqp_5FAjl2zcRH2fAeWpnpHid2PIO5KzdaGMz3SfPbuEREkcLJXnA1IOpbSA-Y7-lZqnH2bDq028rIPi7MclHLg5LJq1cvw0ORTwrZAHscrCE0rBqPVZCdc19vMVNBaL1emmExn/s320/Friedman%20Medicherla%20Blunder.jpg" width="319" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigfdcKN_A7rSWnNIU2RKiB3Ukrtg5Xpf4DHJb1SFUgooqiAfa-xfF7xJfkhp2j6fxLTuj-ccjQkM7CX51C1eUg4Q8-GS7KY6mIgMnMBuO2mldyPDnCX6CnxH9KV7cHpr6rzKQOMikExOwauIy1zsrkQKjjqyOF4arWJuTIENsmLd36jwfOE0T35rDpeS4v/s1382/IMG_0892.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1382" data-original-width="1157" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigfdcKN_A7rSWnNIU2RKiB3Ukrtg5Xpf4DHJb1SFUgooqiAfa-xfF7xJfkhp2j6fxLTuj-ccjQkM7CX51C1eUg4Q8-GS7KY6mIgMnMBuO2mldyPDnCX6CnxH9KV7cHpr6rzKQOMikExOwauIy1zsrkQKjjqyOF4arWJuTIENsmLd36jwfOE0T35rDpeS4v/s320/IMG_0892.jpg" width="268" /></a></div><p><i>The Delaware (OH) Main Library Hosted the 7/15/23 "Chess for Change!" tournament <br /></i></p><p></p><p>On July 20, Rachel and I played in the Cincinnati Chess Club's G/24
Swiss. I scored 3.5/4 to share first place with top seeded National Master Justin Storn, who I drew in an exciting last round game that featured mutual time pressure blunders before my opponent forced a perpetual check. I was the third seeded player, and I beat the second seeded player (Ram Dake, who earned the National Master title in the early 1990s) in the third round. Rachel lost all four of her games, but she had a full night of chess: she played a practice game against me on site before the first round, and she challenged Ram Dake to a game after the fourth round ended! <br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0reiJBB3RYUcewjX7zBtCZrkrDQUo37svhISPzEBiBFkWuWxh3zwMpGFbGmsST_9ZtPOA-rtY5lHKtg-JbxbFITGAQt6fT1KRh6--mHa4u5OmMSp11wDlnhXMhpUYe-az_-tUKhv52baGZnOxE_GpbbjR5r0XyldzPgmRvShiE8t2kDng8XkdKvrJhg2N/s1511/IMG_1383.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1511" data-original-width="1464" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0reiJBB3RYUcewjX7zBtCZrkrDQUo37svhISPzEBiBFkWuWxh3zwMpGFbGmsST_9ZtPOA-rtY5lHKtg-JbxbFITGAQt6fT1KRh6--mHa4u5OmMSp11wDlnhXMhpUYe-az_-tUKhv52baGZnOxE_GpbbjR5r0XyldzPgmRvShiE8t2kDng8XkdKvrJhg2N/s320/IMG_1383.jpg" width="310" /></a></div><i>Rachel and I had a great time at the </i><i>the 7/20/23 Cincinnati Chess Club G/24 Swiss <br /></i><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>In 2023, I have scored 54 wins, 10 draws, and 17 losses in regular
rated tournament games with eight first place finishes in 21 events--but five losses to players rated below 1750 were costly, and as a
result my net rating gain for 2023 is minus 26 points, so <b>I need to gain 214 points to reach my goal</b>. <br /></p>David Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08444347475303187373noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6812670776373470303.post-68845274642122081932023-06-12T15:57:00.002-04:002023-06-12T16:02:30.813-04:00Djokovic Breaks Nadal's Grand Slam Singles Titles Record<p>In January 2023, <a href="https://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2023/01/djokovic-ties-nadals-career-grand-slam.html">Novak Djokovic won the Australian Open for a record 10th time, in the process tying Rafael Nadal's record for most career Grand Slam singles titles (22)</a>. Yesterday, Djokovic won his third French Open title, and he now is the sole record-holder for career Grand Slam singles titles. When Roger Federer, who now ranks third on that list, held the record he was almost universally declared to be the greatest tennis player of all-time, so it would be hypocritical for his fans and media supporters to not acknowledge that Djokovic and Nadal have both surpassed Federer in the category that they claimed matters the most. Djokovic has missed two of the past six Grand Slam singles events due to his refusal to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, and had he been able to play in those tournaments his lead over Nadal, Federer, and the rest of the pack would likely be even larger.<br /></p><p>When Nadal passed Federer on the career Grand Slam singles titles list, Federer's fans and media supporters diminished Nadal's accomplishment by noting that 14 of Nadal's 22 Grand Slam wins are from the French Open. That is an odd critique--to say the least--considering that the French Open is one of the two most prestigious Grand Slams (alongside Wimbledon), not to mention that Nadal's eight "other" Grand Slam titles alone would rank him tied for eighth on the all-time list with (among others) Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl, and Andre Agassi. It is also worth noting that <a href="http://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2008/07/rafael-nadal-is-coming-for-that-number.html">Nadal beat Federer head to head in Federer's best Grand Slam event (Wimbledon)</a> but Federer has never defeated Nadal in the French Open, and that Nadal enjoys a 24-16 head to head advantage over Federer, including 10-4 in Grand Slams and 12-7 in ATP Masters Series/ATP Tour Masters 1000.</p><p>Djokovic's best Grand Slam event (the Australian Open) is by far the least historically significant of the four Grand Slams, but he also has won seven Wimbledons (tied for second all-time with Pete Sampras and William Renshaw behind Federer's eight), and he is the only player who has won each Grand Slam singles title at least three times. Djokovic leads Federer 27-23 in their head to head matches, including 11-6 in Grand Slams.</p><p>Djokovic's Grand Slam winning percentage is .329 (23 titles in 70 events played), while Nadal's is .328 (22/67), and Federer's is .247 (20/81). It requires torturing logic to the breaking point to rank Federer ahead of either Djokovic or Nadal at this point. </p><p><a href="http://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2007/07/bjorn-borg-sandy-koufax-of-tennis.html">Bjorn Borg</a> should be mentioned in this discussion as well. By the time Borg played his final Grand Slam event in 1981, many knowledgeable observers ranked him as the greatest player of the Open Era, if not of all-time. Borg's simultaneous dominance of the French Open clay and the Wimbledon grass remains unmatched four decades later; for three straight years (1978-80) he won both events, and by the end of his career he held the modern record for titles won at both venues (six French Opens, five Wimbledons). Nadal broke Borg's French Open record, while Sampras, Federer, and Djokovic surpassed his Wimbledon standard (Renshaw won his Wimbledon titles at a time when the reigning champion did not have to play in the main draw), but Borg remains the only player in tennis history to dominate both events at the same time. </p><p>Many of Borg's important records have not been broken, including his Grand Slam winning percentage of .393 (11/28), his match winning percentage against top 10 players (.725), his four straight years with a match winning percentage greater than .900, his 10 consecutive titles won in 1979-80, and his 63 titles won prior to the age of 25. Borg retired at 25, so it is safe to assume that if he had played for even just a few more years he would have not only extended many of the aforementioned records but he would have set some other records that may still be standing.</p><p>Unlike Federer, Borg does not have a losing record against any of his main rivals. The only blemish on Borg's resume is that he failed to win the U.S. Open despite reaching the finals four times in 10 tries. Borg reached the U.S. Open finals in back to back years and three times in four years before retiring, so Arthur Ashe is among those who believed that Borg would likely have won a U.S. Open title had he kept playing. Like most of his top ranked contemporaries, Borg routinely skipped the Australian Open, so in essence he won 11 titles in three Grand Slam events while the great players who came after him won their Grand Slam titles in four events.<br /></p><p>It is difficult to definitively state that one person is the greatest of all-time in any endeavor, but an objective analysis of tennis history demonstrates (1) there is little basis to put Federer above everyone else and (2) Borg deserves greater appreciation than he receives now. Borg, like many athletes who have been retired for several decades, is facing that <a href="http://20secondtimeout.blogspot.com/2006/01/kobe-goes-where-only-wilt-and-elgin.html">battle to avoid being forgotten that William Goldman eloquently described in the classic book that he co-authored with Mike Lupica, <b>Wait Till Next Year</b></a>. Goldman concluded, "The greatest struggle an athlete undergoes is the battle for our
memories. It's gradual. It begins before you're aware it's begun and it
ends with a terrible fall from grace. Stripped of medals, sent to
Siberia...It really is a battle to the death."</p><p>Djokovic is the man of the hour, and he deserves the praise he is receiving, while Nadal and Federer are all-time greats who also deserve praise--but Borg should be remembered and praised as well.<br /></p>David Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08444347475303187373noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6812670776373470303.post-60779781816393394162023-06-01T19:27:00.006-04:002023-12-19T00:38:44.040-05:00Journey to the National Master Title, Part 5<p>In the May 14, 2023 East
Market Swiss, I scored 3.5/4, finishing tied for first-second while gaining three rating
points to lift my rating to 2037. In round two in mutual time pressure, I made a good practical decision to concede a draw to a lower rated player in a balanced position instead of pressing too hard to win and possibly messing up my whole tournament. Unfortunately, that wisdom did not carry over to my next tournament.<br /></p><p>In the May 27, 2023 "Emotional Chess" tournament (a Cincinnati Swiss System event run by Robert Chenault), I scored 3/4, finishing tied for second-fifth--but I lost in the first round to Ethan Cao, a rising young player who has gained over 500 rating points since December 2022. Ethan's brother <a href="https://www.uschess.org/msa/MbrDtlMilestones.php?14619034">Elton Cao</a>
is a former student of mine, and one of at least three players who I
have coached who achieved the National Master title that I am still
chasing (<a href="https://www.uschess.org/msa/MbrDtlMilestones.php?13646390">Noah Keating-Adams</a> and <a href="https://www.uschess.org/msa/MbrDtlMilestones.php?14330426">Runya Xu</a> are the two others that I can confirm have achieved the NM title). </p><p>I turned down two draw offers versus Ethan Cao. The first time that Cao offered a draw (see diagram below, after Cao played Rb6+), the position was equal (according to Stockfish) even though Cao enjoyed a slight material advantage of Rook for Bishop plus Pawn. My extra Pawn was on the seventh rank supported by my Bishop, and my opponent was relegated to using his Rook to defend the promotion square because his King was too far away to help. His King could not switch places with his Rook because then I could create a second passed pawn with my 2-1 Kingside majority, and that second passed Pawn would generate enough counterplay to maintain equality.<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU0XbEupj5jISUXC5es0uW-H7A8H986V9YK1GrAa-D2Kxl9Z48u0c0hqYK95227mWWwwMRc-J8Eh4BPnKCGW5dgWLOYYyBLp5MW0dbQDRsitnZSOLnxe5zudj9sKkdAJ_hVwXTmHWxlf-TXKcpcJOZD3NlNjtzLjs8TfJz3c4ZVsOBxZ1r5o-1bONMmA/s1309/Diagram%20Cao.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1289" data-original-width="1309" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU0XbEupj5jISUXC5es0uW-H7A8H986V9YK1GrAa-D2Kxl9Z48u0c0hqYK95227mWWwwMRc-J8Eh4BPnKCGW5dgWLOYYyBLp5MW0dbQDRsitnZSOLnxe5zudj9sKkdAJ_hVwXTmHWxlf-TXKcpcJOZD3NlNjtzLjs8TfJz3c4ZVsOBxZ1r5o-1bONMmA/s320/Diagram%20Cao.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p>In the above position, I played ...Kg7 instead of ...Ke7, which would have forced Cao to retreat his rook to the first rank. Why did I decline his draw offer, and why did I then play an imprecise move? After much introspection about this game and about other games versus lower rated players when I made mistakes and lost after declining draw offers, I have concluded that one issue I face is that when a lower rated player offers a draw in an equal or roughly equal position I tend to assume that the lower rated player is so intimidated that he will accept a draw at any time, giving me license to aggressively push for a win because I have "draw in hand." A second issue that I face is that I have such an innate aversion to drawing with lower rated players that I tend to overestimate my chances and play risky "hope chess" rather than either accepting the draw or else playing on in a way that does not involve unnecessary risk.</p><p>Here, I was way ahead on the clock, and ...Ke7 would have been a valid way to keep the game going without risking a loss. If Cao had returned his Rook to the first rank the result would have probably been a draw, but I could have kept playing for a few more moves to see if he cracked under time pressure. The flaw with ...Kg7 is that it allows Re6, followed by redeploying the King to e1 to free the Rook to undertake active operations; although White still does not have a forced win, it is not difficult for a player of my level to see the specific move Re6 or to understand in general how strong it is to place a Rook behind a passed Pawn--but this is what I mean by "hope chess": instead of calculating objectively, I hoped to use my King to support the ...g5 push to create another passed Pawn that I hoped would crack my opponent's defenses. Cao provided a reprieve to me by playing Rb1, enabling me to reestablish equality with ...Kh6. We shuffled our pieces around for a few more moves, I declined a second draw offer in an equal position, and I eventually played ...g5 to create a passed pawn. The resulting position was still objectively equal, but then I made the decisive mistake (see diagram below). </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj38Yx-uZaBLwF8OO_OXnoVrPPibJbuNQeDszcf7CA7TI4--6-jTK-I_-Fs8AxHqUQG86fC7i3DvXQA44N-MqnK3g4MTV0_KH_AmlPmzfmLw96mVzNGXFg36iAqWky0kkVS9Wicc5KRn_bOJK-FqiY0LS3AhCCCfqB6TZjFxVFo4OsShkUP-f1KGPTW1Q/s1280/Disaster%20Diagram.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1267" data-original-width="1280" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj38Yx-uZaBLwF8OO_OXnoVrPPibJbuNQeDszcf7CA7TI4--6-jTK-I_-Fs8AxHqUQG86fC7i3DvXQA44N-MqnK3g4MTV0_KH_AmlPmzfmLw96mVzNGXFg36iAqWky0kkVS9Wicc5KRn_bOJK-FqiY0LS3AhCCCfqB6TZjFxVFo4OsShkUP-f1KGPTW1Q/s320/Disaster%20Diagram.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> <p></p><p>I could have held a draw by playing ...Bb5, after which White cannot make any progress (nor can Black). Instead, I played ...h4, hoping that my h pawn would divert my opponent's King enough to enable my King to reach f2 and win his Rook, but simple calculation demonstrates that this does not work versus correct play; after the Kingside Pawns were exchanged, my opponent forced a winning King
and Pawn ending by giving up his Rook for my Bishop and my e Pawn. </p><p></p><p></p><p>I won my next three games, but each of my opponents is rated 1610 or less, so I did not gain many rating points for those three wins, and overall I lost 18 rating points to fall back to 2019. </p><p>"Emotional Chess" was the second rated tournament for my daughter Rachel Sophia, who <a href="https://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2023/03/journey-to-national-master-title-part-3.html">played in her first rated tournament on March 12, 2023</a>. After scoring one win and three losses in her first tournament, Rachel scored one draw and three losses this time around. Her rating is now 557 after eight games. </p><p>We both had a great time, and we both supported each other throughout the event. I probably need more support than she does, as Rachel remains even keeled no matter what happens. After she lost her first round game, Rachel stood by my board and watched intently as I went down in flames. After the game ended she looked at me and asked, "Are you OK, Daddy?" I assured her that I was fine, but just disappointed about the result. I said, "There are three more games to go, and three wins would still be a good score." We then ate lunch, played catch, and talked a little bit with Li Cao (Elton and Ethan's father).</p><p>Rachel drew her second round game. She had a winning position, but she and her opponent became a bit confused after a series of illegal moves, so they decided to agree to a draw. I asked Rachel who offered the draw and if she was satisfied with that outcome. Rachel made it clear that they both wanted a draw, and I have no reason to think that Rachel was conned or pressured into accepting a draw in a superior position. I refrained from making any immediate commentary or criticism, but later in the day I casually mentioned that in the future if she and her opponent are confused about the board situation then she can summon a director to make a ruling instead of just agreeing to a draw. </p><p>Rachel packed a book and some toys to occupy her attention between rounds, but she also seemed to enjoy watching me play, and it was neat to have my own personal fan club. Rachel sometimes leaned on my shoulder during my games, much as she is in the picture below that we took before the tournament started. I asked her afterward what she enjoyed most about the tournament, and she immediately replied, "Chess and food!" We are looking forward to going to more chess tournaments together.<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifsj7gYzFBjSPBzYqGh0TqG_2veX0kdk8n0Jfvjy6NRHpqFTQ9qWtwmqJuu9BIsD1YDYaqQn9stKdtubUPOv6rsIMkqnge9laUM6_CliLc0a2MR7_9YwU81MEg3fiGMEUYdvmncWN0dRPjj24Pq6BqZcPe9NV7vC-MiWRdlYq3EyDcKKkbA0HRHZNrHg/s2016/IMG_9375.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifsj7gYzFBjSPBzYqGh0TqG_2veX0kdk8n0Jfvjy6NRHpqFTQ9qWtwmqJuu9BIsD1YDYaqQn9stKdtubUPOv6rsIMkqnge9laUM6_CliLc0a2MR7_9YwU81MEg3fiGMEUYdvmncWN0dRPjj24Pq6BqZcPe9NV7vC-MiWRdlYq3EyDcKKkbA0HRHZNrHg/s320/IMG_9375.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><i><p>Rachel and I enjoyed the 5/27/23 "Emotional Chess" tournament</p></i>
<p>In 2023, I have scored 47 wins, 10 draws, and 12 losses in regular
rated tournament games with eight first place finishes in 18 events--but five losses to players rated below 1750 were costly, and as a
result my net rating gain for 2023 is just seven points, so <b>I need to gain 181 points to reach my goal</b>. </p>David Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08444347475303187373noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6812670776373470303.post-45104665964618439482023-05-20T01:36:00.012-04:002023-05-21T17:28:48.713-04:00NFL Legend Jim Brown Has Passed Away at the Age of 87<p>The terms "legend" and "GOAT" (Greatest Of All Time) are overused regarding athletes. A legend is not just a great player; he is a transformative figure. The GOAT--if such a figure exists--possesses a combination of skill set strengths and accomplishments that are unmatched.</p><p>Jim Brown, who passed away Thursday night at the age of 87, earned the titles legend and GOAT. As long as football is written about and discussed, he will be a legend and he will be on the short list of GOAT candidates. Brown played nine dominant NFL seasons before retiring to become an actor and a social activist. Brown helped to found the Black Economic Union, and his Amer-I-Can Program operates predominantly in inner city areas, focusing on ending gang activities and helping young people to develop life skills. Brown was an active participant in the Civil Rights movement, and he joined Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and other prominent athletes at the 1967 Ali Summit in Cleveland after Muhammad Ali had been stripped of his heavyweight boxing championship for refusing induction in the U.S. military.</p><p>Unlike many self-proclaimed activists whose main activity is promoting themselves, Brown never took part in virtue signaling or empty gestures; he focused on obtaining results through self-improvement and building economic self-reliance within the Black community. He was a strong social justice advocate who also was proud to be an American, as <a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-sports-nfl-business-jim-brown-5f180b59fb574148983f35252d509f30">he noted in 2018 when many athletes refused to stand for the National Anthem</a>: "I am not going to denigrate my flag and I'm going to stand for the
national anthem. I'm fighting with all of my strength to make it a
better country, but I don't think that's the issue. Because what is the
top side? Are you not going to stand up? This is our country, man."</p><p>Although Brown is best known for his football career and his social activism, he is also a member of the Lacrosse Hall of Fame, and he was such a dominant lacrosse player that the sport changed its rules regarding stick-handling in response to his play. At Syracuse, Brown lettered in football, lacrosse, basketball, and track. He served as both a running back and a placekicker in Syracuse's 1956 regular season finale versus Colgate, setting an NCAA single-game scoring record with 43 points (six touchdowns plus seven extra points). <a href="https://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2008/10/ernie-davis-triumph-over-racism-needs.html">Dick Schaap resigned as a Heisman Trophy voter after Brown did not receive the award in 1956</a>.</p><p>The Cleveland Browns selected Brown with the sixth overall pick in the 1957 NFL Draft. The Browns made 10 straight championship game appearances from 1946-55 (four AAFC, six NFL) and won seven championships, but they fell on hard times in 1956 with a 5-7 record after Otto Graham's retirement. Brown had a great rookie season in 1957, leading the NFL with 942 rushing yards in a 12 game season; he also led the league with nine rushing touchdowns as he won the Rookie of the Year award and the AP MVP award. The Browns finished first in the NFL East Division with a 9-2-1 record, but lost 59-14 to the Detroit Lions in the NFL Championship Game. In 1958, Brown earned his second AP MVP award after setting the NFL's single season rushing record with 1527 yards, shattering Steve Van Buren's 1949 record of 1146 yards. Brown led the NFL with 18 touchdowns scored, four more than second place finisher Lenny Moore. </p><p>Brown won the rushing title in each of his first five seasons, and in eight of his nine seasons overall. No other running back has more than four NFL rushing titles. In 1963, Brown set a new single season rushing record (1863 yards) that stood for 10 years and was only surpassed once in a 14 game season. Brown's total now ranks 13th all-time, but the NFL season expanded to 16 games in 1978 and 17 games in 2021, so it is worth noting that his 1963 season ranks second all-time in rushing yards per game (133.1). <br /></p><p>The Browns had a winning record in every season of Brown's career, but did not return to the NFL Championship Game until 1964, when they beat the favored Baltimore Colts 27-0. The Browns went 11-3 in 1965 but lost 23-12 to the Green Bay Packers in the NFL Championship Game. After the 1965 season, Brown scored three touchdowns in the 1966 Pro Bowl and won co-MVP honors as his Eastern Conference defeated the Western Conference 36-7. That proved to be Brown's final NFL game; he went to London to film the movie "The Dirty Dozen," and when rain delayed completion of the film Brown was late for the Browns' training camp. Cleveland owner Art Modell publicly threatened to fine Brown for every week of training camp that Brown missed, and Brown responded by announcing his retirement at age 30. The greatest running back--and, arguably, greatest player--in NFL history ended his career on his terms at the peak of his powers. Brown's acting career lasted from the 1960s until well into the 2000s in both movies and on TV, but he made his greatest impact during his post-NFL days as an activist battling to end gang warfare and create economic opportunities for the Black community.<br /></p><p>When Brown retired, he was not only the NFL's all-time
leading rusher with 12,312 yards--a record that stood for 19 years--but
he was 2589 yards ahead the second ranked rusher, Joe Perry, who was
2321 yards ahead of the third ranked rusher (Jim Taylor). Only
Peyton Manning (five) and Aaron Rodgers (four) have won more AP NFL MVPs
than Brown (three, tied with Johnny Unitas, Brett Favre, and Tom Brady).
Brown is the only non-quarterback who has won more than one AP NFL MVP.
Brown earned nine Pro Bowl selections plus eight All-Pro First Team
selections. </p><p>You do not have to be a football savant to see and appreciate Brown's physical gifts, but it is important to understand that he was a student of the game. When Bill Belichick coached the Cleveland Browns in the early 1990s, he brought Brown in to provide counsel to the team's running backs. Belichick praised Brown's ability to clearly and succinctly provide valuable tips about leverage and reading the defense. Belichick also called Brown the greatest football player ever "without question." <br /></p><p></p><p></p><p>In 1999, the AP named Brown the greatest football player of the 20th century, and at the 2020 NCAA National Championship Game he was recognized as the greatest college football player of all-time. Brown ranked fourth on ESPN's SportsCentury list of the 50 greatest American athletes of the 20th century, trailing only Michael Jordan, Babe Ruth, and Muhammad Ali.</p><p>I never interviewed Brown, but I met him and shook his hand at the <a href="http://20secondtimeout.blogspot.com/2009/06/etched-in-time-george-vlosich-iii-turns.html">2004 National Sports Collectors Convention in Cleveland</a>
during a special dinner celebrating the 40th anniversary of
the Browns' 1964 NFL championship. I am too young to remember Brown's
playing career, but as a lifelong (and long-suffering) Cleveland Browns
fan it was great to not only meet Brown but also meet several other Browns
legends, including Leroy Kelly and Gene Hickerson. The 2004 National
Sports Collectors Convention is also the event where I met and
interviewed <a href="http://20secondtimeout.blogspot.com/2015/12/dolph-schayes-scorerrebounderpasser.html">Dolph Schayes</a>. </p><p>During his nine season NFL career, Brown never missed a game--and that was not because he was never injured. He never showboated, and he was a highly productive player for winning teams. Although some of his numbers have been surpassed, his dominance of the running back position has never been approached, and it is difficult to imagine that it ever will be. As great as he was as an athlete, Brown wanted to be remembered as an activist. "I was fighting for freedom, equality and justice every day of my life," <a href="https://www.cleveland.com/browns/2013/10/jim_brown_on_social_activism_v.html">Brown said in a video made 10 years ago</a>. "I was always active to create
equal opportunity and to use whatever money or power I had to affect social change."</p>David Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08444347475303187373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6812670776373470303.post-74477327293066780172023-05-10T13:32:00.003-04:002023-05-10T13:36:09.689-04:00Remembering Denny Crum and His Great, Exciting Louisville Basketball Teams<p>Denny Crum, who passed away yesterday at the age of 86, is one of the greatest coaches in college basketball history--and perhaps the most underrated of the elite coaches. He was the face of the University of Louisville's college basketball program from 1971-2001, posting a 675-295 record that included two national titles (1980, 1986) and six Final Four appearances. Crum was inducted in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1994.<br /></p><p>Only Mike Krzyzewski, <a href="http://20secondtimeout.blogspot.com/2020/04/seth-davis-writes-definitive-john.html">John Wooden</a>, Dean Smith, Roy Williams, and Tom Izzo have more Final Four appearances than Crum, who is tied with Adolph Rupp and ahead of (among others) <a href="http://20secondtimeout.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-power-of-negative-thinking-bob.html">Bob Knight</a>, Lute Olsen, and <a href="https://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2023/03/jim-boeheims-47-season-syracuse.html">Jim Boeheim</a> (this list does not include vacated Final Four appearances by Rick Pitino and John Calipari). Crum is one of 15 coaches who won at least two NCAA Division I basketball titles; there are only six coaches who won more than two titles (Wooden, Krzyzewski, Rupp, Williams, Jim Calhoun, and Knight).</p><p>Crum played for Wooden at UCLA, and then won three national titles while serving as an assistant coach for Wooden. Bill Walton, the center and dominating force for UCLA's 1972 and 1973 championship teams, was recruited by Crum, whose Louisville team lost to UCLA in the 1972 Final Four. Crum's Cardinals lost to Wooden's Bruins 75-74 in overtime in the 1975 Final Four as Wooden went on to win his 10th NCAA title before retiring after that campaign. Crum declined an offer to replace Wooden, determined to build his own legacy separate from UCLA.</p><p>Crum's best Louisville team was the 1980 squad that posted a 33-3 record en route to winning the NCAA title. Louisville beat UCLA, then coached by Larry Brown, in the championship game (the Bruins' tournament appearance was subsequently vacated by the NCAA). Six players from the 1980 Louisville championship team made it to the NBA, including Darrell Griffith, the 1980 Wooden Award winner, the 1980 Final Four Most Outstanding Player, and <a href="https://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2009/04/college-basketballs-ten-greatest.html">one of college basketball's greatest dunkers</a>. Griffith won the 1981 NBA Rookie of the Year Award, averaged at least 20 ppg in four of his first five NBA seasons, and became the NBA's first prolific three point shooter while leading the league in three point field goals made in 1983-84 and 1984-85. Another future NBA player from Louisville's 1980 championship team, Derek Smith, is credited with popularizing the high five. As a young basketball fan, I loved watching that Louisville team and Griffith was one of my favorite college basketball players.<br /></p><p>George Mikan's prime predated my childhood by three decades; he seemed like a prehistoric figure to me--his highlights only available in grainy black and white footage--so I can only imagine how long ago 1980 must seem to today's young basketball fans, but as someone who saw and vividly remembers Griffith and his teammates flying through the air I can say without hesitation that those players and that team would do just fine if teleported into 2023. In fact, I would argue that college basketball teams from that era were better than today's college basketball teams, because in the 1980s the best basketball players went to college and stayed for at least two seasons. College basketball talent today is <a href="http://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2023/04/uconn-defeats-san-diego-state-76-59-to.html">watered down</a>; I am not talking about the merits of NIL and early entry into the NBA Draft for individual players, but just noting the reality that <a href="http://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2008/03/early-entry-players-have-diluted-both.html">college basketball today is not played at the same level that college basketball was played when the best players played college basketball</a>--a point that should be obvious, but is either ignored or else disputed by those who insist that college basketball is the best, purest form of the sport.</p><p>Crum's 1986 championship team went 32-7 and featured four future NBA players, headlined by "Never Nervous" Pervis Ellison who--like Griffith--won the Final Four Most Outstanding Player Award. The Cardinals started the season 15-7 before winning 17 straight games, culminating in a 72-69 victory over Duke in the national championship game. Louisville was ranked as low as 18th in the AP poll during the season. Ellison was the third leading scorer (13.1 ppg) of a well-balanced
attack that season, but the slender 6-9 freshman peaked at the right
time with double doubles in each of Louisville's last three NCAA Tournament
games, including 25 points and 11 rebounds versus Duke.</p><p>Some coaches are best known for recruiting, while others are highly regarded for their strategic acumen. Crum was strong in both areas: he coached 13 players who became first round NBA draft picks (including Griffith and Ellison, who was the number one overall selection by Sacramento in the 1989 draft), and he was respected for his play calling. Crum's teams often featured athletic guards and forwards who played at a fast pace, and that made his teams exciting and fun to watch. </p><p>Time stops for no one. It is difficult to believe that 43 years have passed since Darrell "Dr. Dunkenstein" Griffith thrilled basketball fans, but the memories of his high-flying exploits and the feats of Denny Crum's other exciting teams are indelible to those of us who watched those long ago games.<br /></p>David Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08444347475303187373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6812670776373470303.post-55345959040200058912023-05-05T20:33:00.002-04:002023-10-02T22:24:45.970-04:00Journey to the National Master Title, Part 4<p>The journey to the National Master title is not a straightforward path, but rather a bumpy road that must be navigated with determination. Tactical awareness is essential. My losses to lower rated players have been due to a lack of focus/lack of tactical awareness, while several of my wins have featured nice examples of tactical awareness.<br /></p><p>In the March 26, 2023 East Market Swiss, I scored 3.5/4, gaining 11 rating points to lift my rating to 2024 while finishing in clear second place. In the first round, I blundered in a winning position against a lower rated player and had to settle for a draw, but I recovered to win my next three games, including a last round triumph versus Faris Gabbara, a veteran 2000-rated player who earned the National Master title in 1992.</p><p>I played a nice second round game as white against Andrew Zhu, who has gained over 600 rating points since April 2022 as he makes his journey to the National Master title (and probably beyond). Here is the position before my 30th move:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0M5dPrTmTzWm32qssRT5jzI0U7zVojDSbIy8PMO-_eAEGCe8ntXLg42UdYO7TuFbogaJ9RStHQPW2pezmWExR_oZzUrbRakjpTmLtrWX8JwGl2lEWH9qmMDtLbFlKjfFvDtAQV06VXcFhMnygqIkY7azBCbWVzSmFyo9Jd1NaDimhdMyIII6tLNa5Ow/s1280/IMG_8620.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1267" data-original-width="1280" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0M5dPrTmTzWm32qssRT5jzI0U7zVojDSbIy8PMO-_eAEGCe8ntXLg42UdYO7TuFbogaJ9RStHQPW2pezmWExR_oZzUrbRakjpTmLtrWX8JwGl2lEWH9qmMDtLbFlKjfFvDtAQV06VXcFhMnygqIkY7azBCbWVzSmFyo9Jd1NaDimhdMyIII6tLNa5Ow/s320/IMG_8620.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p>Material is equal, but the opposite colored Bishops provide attacking chances to whichever player can seize the initiative. Here I played 30.Bg7. Taking the Bishop leads to mate in four starting with 31.Qxh7+, so my opponent found the only move to prolong the game: 30...h5. White has a decisive advantage, and I finished the game quickly: 31.Be5 Qe7 32.Qe4 Qf7 33.Rf3 Bb7 34.Rxf7 Bxe4 35.Rg7+ Kf8 36.Rxe4 Rc1+ 37.Kf2 Rc2+ 38.Kg3 Rxa2?? A blunder in a lost position. 39.Rf4# 1-0</p><p>In the April 1, 2023 Indianapolis Super Tornado, I scored just 2/5 in the Championship section, dropping 36 hard-earned rating points and falling below the 2000 point barrier. In the first round, I won a Pawn on move 22 versus a talented junior and I had a commanding position, but the game ended with blunders by both players in mutual time pressure; I blundered last and worst, so I lost. In the second round, I misplayed the middlegame against another talented junior, and my 0-2 start dropped my live rating below 2000. I recovered to win my third round game, and then in my fourth round game I squandered a winning position against an Expert. My fifth round opponent blundered a piece on move seven. I blundered back my extra piece but still had a positional advantage, which I nursed to victory.<br /></p><p>In the April 8, 2023 Columbus G/30 Open I started out 3/3 to push my rating back over 2000, but then I lost my last two games, both to players rated below 1750. The top three seeds in this tournament all took a serious beating; the top seeded player lost his first three games and dropped 67 rating points, the third seeded player lost 31 rating points and finished out of the money, and as the second seeded player I lost 16 rating points while finishing in a tie for third through fifth. My last round opponent, Paul Alexander, ended up winning the tournament with 4/5, beating each of the top three seeded players while gaining 184 rating points! My third round win versus rising young Class A player (now Expert) Matt Wang featured an uncommon mating pattern:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIe4eRClOT5gUGf8SkwzD0UdLMXM5FhcXRLaM-Y1WzxvNhU7IDyS5afh5c7gjtZ-3_RibAquEYQjmWx1q5SKwb4kBhZzsl-Fcy9UGv7x6JaV9f0TYYl14S6P6fNxxBvrcwP_v7GsOBBIUe66xY2gOwy7YRjfZ9B4jgpYF08WB9DRsyBPqWZmWPHGtNtg/s1280/IMG_8621.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1269" data-original-width="1280" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIe4eRClOT5gUGf8SkwzD0UdLMXM5FhcXRLaM-Y1WzxvNhU7IDyS5afh5c7gjtZ-3_RibAquEYQjmWx1q5SKwb4kBhZzsl-Fcy9UGv7x6JaV9f0TYYl14S6P6fNxxBvrcwP_v7GsOBBIUe66xY2gOwy7YRjfZ9B4jgpYF08WB9DRsyBPqWZmWPHGtNtg/s320/IMG_8621.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p>Here as Black (moving up the board) I played ...e4. White will be checkmated immediately after a7, and in three moves after Ka7 followed by ...Ne7/...Nc8/...Nb6. This is not difficult to see in this position, but we got here after I let my opponent take my a pawn and then hemmed in his King by playing ...Kc7. I placed my N on the correct route to deliver checkmate instead of just winning prosaically by pushing one of my passed Pawns.</p><p></p><p>In the April 15-16, 2023 Cincinnati Open (FIDE Expert section), I scored 3.5/5 (three wins, one loss, and one half point bye) to gain 22 rating points and push my rating back up to 1994 while finishing in a tie for fourth through eighth. That was the last tournament that I played before U.S. Chess generated their official May 2023 rating list, so for the first time since April 2022 my official rating fell below 2000. I played my favorite move from the Cincinnati Open in my second round win versus strong Indiana Expert Mohamed Elshazly. After I sacrificed a piece for two Pawns and an attack, we reached this position:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK3TORaQJZkRBQIi9Yr9WhZoY2XhiuVIqSwWX3eBpUtocyTamBvAn9ov-QEdXT9OsRUBL2dYN3b9epA4APeHLSzLmULZSXqmtm9pX4a5nLaNByRSpA7hOkJQWZXc2K5ieKjrVUJvI64zVm6KpwzRtBJV3ktUude9z4QBWx24oJX3pvPI58usHwlC3iKg/s1280/IMG_8622.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1268" data-original-width="1280" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK3TORaQJZkRBQIi9Yr9WhZoY2XhiuVIqSwWX3eBpUtocyTamBvAn9ov-QEdXT9OsRUBL2dYN3b9epA4APeHLSzLmULZSXqmtm9pX4a5nLaNByRSpA7hOkJQWZXc2K5ieKjrVUJvI64zVm6KpwzRtBJV3ktUude9z4QBWx24oJX3pvPI58usHwlC3iKg/s320/IMG_8622.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p>I played Rxh7, which forces mate in 10 moves or less. My opponent resigned after ...Rxh7 28.Qe8+ Kg7 29.Rxe7+ Kh6 30.Qf8+ Kg6 31.Qg8+.</p><p>I concluded April with three straight first place finishes, gaining 40 rating points in the process: <br /></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>In the April 22, 2023 Columbus G/60 Quads, I scored 2/3 (two wins, one loss) in the "A" Quad, gaining 11 rating points to lift my rating to 2005 while finishing tied for first-second.</li><li>In the April 29, 2023 DBTHS Swiss, I scored 3/3, finishing clear first and gaining 15 rating points to improve my rating to 2020.</li><li>In the April 30, 2023 East Market Swiss, I scored 3.5/4, finishing tied for first-second while gaining 14 rating points to lift my rating to 2034. <br /></li></ol><p>In 2023, I have scored 41 wins, nine draws, and 11 losses in regular
rated tournament games with seven first place finishes in 16
events--but four losses to players rated below 1750 were costly, and as a
result my net rating gain for 2023 is just 22 points, so <b>I need to gain 166 points to reach my goal</b>. </p>David Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08444347475303187373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6812670776373470303.post-83362283165606332872023-05-01T07:29:00.008-04:002023-05-01T09:50:50.570-04:00Ding Liren is the New World Chess Champion After Defeating Ian Nepomniachtchi in Rapid Tiebreak<p>Ding Liren defeated Ian Nepomniachtchi 2.5-1.5 in the Rapid Tiebreak to win the World Chess Championship title <a href="https://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2022/07/magnus-carlsens-decision-to-not-defend.html">abandoned by Magnus Carlsen</a>, whose reign lasted from 2013-2023 and included <a href="http://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2021/12/magnus-carlsen-defends-his-world-chess.html">four successful title defenses.</a> Carlsen is still the highest rated chess player (2853) in the world, followed by Nepomniachtchi (2794) and Ding (2789). Nepomniachtchi qualified for the 2023 World Chess Championship match by <a href="https://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2022/07/ian-nepomniachtchi-wins-candidates.html">winning the Candidates Tournament for the second time in a row</a>. Ding finished second in the Candidates Tournament after beating the highest rated American player (Hikaru Nakamura, ranked fifth in the world with a 2775 rating) in the last round, but Ding was elevated to fellow challenger status with Nepomniachtchi after Carlsen declined to participate.</p><p>The vast majority of games in the Classical portion of recent World Chess Championship matches were draws, but six of the 14 games in the Classical portion of the Ding-Nepomniachtchi match were decisive. Perhaps the key moment in the Classical portion of the match happened when <a href="http://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2023/04/ding-liren-exploits-ian-nepomniachtchis.html">Ding won game 12 to tie the score at 6-6</a>. Nepomniachtchi enjoyed a promising position in game 12 but he lost the thread while trying to win, and then threw away the game with a major mistake that he played after using very little time on his clock. In retrospect, that was the turning point: Ding trailed from game seven until he won game 12, but after game 12 Nepomniachtchi did not win another game. The players drew the final two Classical games and the first three Rapid Tiebreak games, so Ding's first lead in the World Chess Championship came when he won the fourth game of the four game Rapid Tiebreak and immediately became the World Champion!</p><p>It is a heartbreaking result for Nepomniachtchi, who was a few accurate moves away from all but clinching the title in game 12, and it was a magnificent triumph for Ding, the first Chinese player among the 17 undisputed World Chess Champions since Wilhelm Steinitz assumed the throne in 1886 (unofficially, Steinitz' reign at the top of the chess world dates back to 1866, but there was not a formal World Chess Championship match prior to 1886).<br /></p><p>In public, Ding has an unassuming, low key demeanor that can be misinterpreted. Every time Ding lost a game, armchair psychologists examined Ding's body language and proclaimed that he was a broken person who could not recover from such a devastating setback. This made little sense, because a person does not become the third ranked chess player in the world and qualify to play in a World Chess Championship match without having great mental toughness and strength of character. The in-game commentators provided valuable insights relating to the moves played, but it is disappointing that <a href="http://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2023/04/why-do-people-who-ask-idiotic-questions.html">people who ask idiotic questions at press conferences receive media credentials</a>. No one needs to ask Ding Liren how he <a href="http://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2023/04/dreaming-of-becoming-journalist.html">ranks his self-confidence on a scale of 1-10</a>, nor does anyone need to ask Nepomniachtchi <a href="http://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2023/04/youve-got-to-be-kidding-ian.html">if the match is over when there are three games left in the Classical portion</a> (a question that sounded stupid at the time, and aged very poorly after Nepomniachtchi lost in the Rapid Tiebreak).</p><p>This match featured more decisive games than recent matches not because the players are better (or worse) than the players from other World Chess Championship matches, but because this match featured a fascinating clash of personalities and playing styles. Thus, when one player steered the game toward his type of position, he tended to win, and vice versa. In such a match, it is easy to nitpick and to criticize the players' moves; it is important to remember that even if a chess computer evaluates a position as objectively equal that does not mean that the path to maintain equality is obvious to a human: there are equal positions in which any sensible move retains the balance, and there are equal positions in which one player has to walk a delicate tightrope involving many "only" moves, some of which may not be intuitive or obvious to a human.</p><p>It should also be mentioned that deciding the World Chess Championship in a Rapid Tiebreak is similar to breaking a tie in a marathon with a series of sprints: a marathon and a sprint both involve running, but they are different sports. Classical chess--chess played at slow time controls--is one sport, and rapid chess is a different sport. There is actually a separate event to determine the world champion at rapid time controls. There is no perfect format for a World Chess Championship: a match extending until one player wins a set number of games with draws not counting led to the marathon 1984-85 Karpov-Kasparov match in which play was eventually suspended with the outcome undecided after 48 games, while letting the champion retain the title in a drawn match has its drawbacks as well. It would be nice to see a Classical match format lasting longer than 14 games.</p><p>All of that being said, the players signed contracts and agreed to the format, so it cannot be said that one player was at a disadvantage: both players knew that if they drew the Classical portion of the match then the title would be determined in a Rapid tiebreak (with a Blitz tiebreak to follow if the Rapid tiebreak was drawn). </p><p>Turning our attention back to the just concluded World Chess Championship, it is no secret that Nepomniachtchi often plays too quickly, and it is clear that this trait has been costly for him at times. I respect Grandmaster Anish Giri for candidly stating early in the match that when he mentions this flaw in Nepomniachtchi's approach he understands that Nepomniachtchi must be doing a lot of things very well to win back to back Candidates Tournaments. Giri said that he has greater flaws in his game to iron out than Nepomniachtchi has in his game, and that explains why he (Giri) has never played in a World Chess Championship match. Such humility and self-awareness are great traits for other commentators to cultivate.</p><p>Congratulations to Ding, and best wishes to Nepomniachtchi, who is young enough and good enough to still contend for the World Chess Championship.</p>David Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08444347475303187373noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6812670776373470303.post-10447520065926173542023-04-26T19:39:00.004-04:002023-04-26T19:48:54.583-04:00Ding Liren Exploits Ian Nepomniachtchi's Blunder to Win Game 12 and Tie the World Chess Championship at 6-6<p>Even in today's era with computer-assisted preparation, top level chess does not have to consist primarily of draws if both players are willing to fight. Fighting chess creates winning chances for both players, and fighting chess also creates a state of heightened psychological tension that can result in blunders. As <a href="http://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2010/05/its-just-question-of-nerves-anand.html">Viswanathan Anand once put it, success at top level chess is "a question of nerves."</a> If we want to see perfect--or at least "ideal"--chess then we can watch two computers play against each other. As a <a href="http://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2015/05/david-friedman-captures-10th-dayton.html">strong amateur chess player</a>, I enjoy playing fighting chess and I enjoy watching top level players who play fighting chess.</p><p>The 2023 World Chess Championship pitting Ding Liren versus Ian Nepomniachtchi has featured fighting chess in almost every game, and after 12 games the score is tied 6-6 with each player winning three games. The first player to score 7.5 points wins the match, and there will be tiebreaker games if the match ends in a 7-7 tie.<br /></p><p>Nepomniachtchi won game two after a game one draw, and he has never trailed during the match. He enjoyed a one point lead from game seven until his collapse in game 12 today, when he built an advantageous position only to squander his edge by playing too quickly before committing a one move blunder that lost the game. Game 12 featured daring play by both players. </p><p>Chess fans who complain about too many draws should not then make fun of top level players who blunder while playing enterprising chess. Taking risks to win also means that you can lose. I respect Nepomniachtchi's fighting spirit, and as someone whose fighting spirit has led both to great victories and ignominious defeats I can empathize with how he must be feeling after game 12.<br /></p><p>A drawn chess game may or may not feature highly accurate play, but a decisive game inevitably includes at least one mistake. There is a tendency for some people to assume that the level of play in matches featuring many decisive games is lower than the level of play in matches that have fewer decisive games. In 2018, <a href="https://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2018/11/magnus-carlsen-retains-world-chess.html">Carlsen retained his World Chess Championship title with three wins in rapid play after he and challenger Fabiano Caruana drew all 12 classical games that they contested</a>. One should not assume that the 12 classical games were error-free just because they were all draws, nor should one assume that Carlsen would win a match against the current match competitors based on his prior results. Each match takes on its own flavor.<br /></p><p>Objectively speaking, based on chess ratings it is reasonable to suggest that Magnus Carlsen--<a href="https://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2022/07/magnus-carlsens-decision-to-not-defend.html">who declined to defend his World Championship title</a>--is still the world's strongest chess player. However, the notion that if he had played in this World Chess Championship match he would have made fewer mistakes than the current match participants is not supported by the evidence. It is easy to forget--and many people seem to have forgotten--that Carlsen made many mistakes in his World Chess Championship matches. For example, <a href="https://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2018/11/carlsen-misses-crushing-shot-and.html">Carlsen missed a winning continuation in game one of his match versus Caruana</a> and the game ended in a draw. Also, in game six of his 2014 match versus Anand, Carlsen made a ghastly blunder that should have cost him the game on the spot--but Anand returned the favor by overlooking the winning move.</p><p>In short, Carlsen is a great player and a resourceful fighter but even in his prime he did not play perfect chess, so it is not fair to the current World Chess Championship players to compare them unfavorably to a player who declined to participate. Chess can be a very tension-filled game because a chess player can play 50 correct moves in a row, build up an overwhelming position, and then throw away the game with just one mistake. Most other sports are not like that; if a basketball team takes a 20 point lead, the opposing team cannot come back on one play, and the same concept holds true for baseball, hockey, and football: a large lead cannot be erased by just one mistake.<br /></p><p>Chess tests every fiber of your mind, body, and soul. That is one reason why chess is a great game, and that is why I have so much respect for uncompromising players who fight to win every game. <a href="https://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2021/03/bobby-fischer-and-his-world-paints.html">Bobby Fischer</a> used to say that a game was not drawn until he said it was drawn, a mindset that resulted in him winning the 1963-64 U.S. Championship with an 11-0 score before later winning 20 straight games against elite Grandmasters without yielding a single draw en route to capturing the World Championship in 1972. That stubborn attitude served Fischer well in chess, even if it may have been counterproductive for him away from the 64 square board. </p><p>In some ways, Nepomniachtchi is fighting against himself as he tries to become the World Chess Champion. If he succeeds in this attempt despite his agonizing game 12 loss, he can truly say that he did it his way. If he falls short, he is young enough to make another attempt to reach the summit, and he can decide if his uncompromising approach may need some modification, at least in terms of the time he spends on each move before making very committal and potential risky decisions.</p><p>Ding is harder to read. He comes across as a low energy person, but rest assured that anyone who has qualified for a World Chess Championship match has a fierce fighting spirit regardless of his demeanor. I do not look at his facial expressions or body language and conclude that he is in psychological peril each time that he loses a game, because he has repeatedly demonstrated that he is strong enough to overcome adversity. </p><p>Whoever wins this match is a worthy successor to Carlsen.<br /></p>David Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08444347475303187373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6812670776373470303.post-42963238450918733652023-04-24T10:47:00.000-04:002023-04-24T10:47:39.441-04:00"You've Got to be Kidding": Ian Nepomniachtchi Says What We Are All Thinking During World Chess Championship Press Conference<p>The 2023 World Chess Championship pitting Ian Nepomniachtchi versus Ding Liren for <a href="https://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2022/07/magnus-carlsens-decision-to-not-defend.html">the title vacated by Magnus Carlsen</a> has featured some exciting games--including three wins by Nepomniachtchi and two wins by Ding--but the postgame press conferences have been marred by <a href="http://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2023/04/dreaming-of-becoming-journalist.html">journalists in name only</a> asking <a href="http://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2023/04/why-do-people-who-ask-idiotic-questions.html">idiotic questions</a>. </p><p>After today's game 11 ended in a draw, the press conference moderator Keti Tsatsalashvili asked Nepomniachtchi, "Do you think that the most difficult part of the match is already behind, and now you just have to finish the job, or do you think that the most critical games are still ahead of you?"</p><p>Nepomniachtchi immediately turned toward her, looked her in the eye and said, "You've got to be kidding." She said, "Sorry?" and Nepomniachtchi repeated, "You've got to be kidding, no?" She said, "No, I'm not." </p><p>Nepomniachtchi then said, "Indeed, (there are) three games (left in the match) and I should give my all to do the job, let's say. Of course it is not anything like it's over--obviously not. It's pretty much an unclear match, I think." <br /></p><p>Keti Tsatsalashvili then turned to Ding to ask another question before thinking better of it, and asking the assembled media members if they had any questions.</p><p>Game 11 was a relatively short and uneventful draw, so media members who struggle to think of competent and relevant questions even after exciting, decisive games were completely baffled today. Thus, the topic of conversation shifted from the World Chess Championship match to how to detect and prevent chess cheating. <a href="https://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2021/10/preventing-detecting-and-punishing.html">Chess cheating</a> is a relevant topic for the chess world in a broad sense, but it is not relevant to this match because there is zero reason to believe that any cheating is taking place, or could take place given the strict precautions that are in place.</p><p>Nevertheless, Leontxo Garcia of "El Pais" admitted that he needs help writing his game story for today, and thus he asked both players to comment about chess cheating in general and also specifically if they believe that any of the top 25 players in the world have cheated in over the board chess. Again, it is obvious that chess cheating is a relevant topic for discussion, but it is not obvious why that should be brought up after game 11--except for the fact that Garcia admitted that he needs help writing his game story (at least some people who struggle to do their jobs are candid enough to admit this). </p><p>After Garcia sent the press conference spinning away from the World Chess Championship, Mumbled Name (perhaps he prefers to preserve his anonymity to the general public by not clearly identifying himself) from "Die Zeit" in Hamburg asked both players if they are aware that "500 meters from here <a href="https://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2022/10/hans-niemann-ties-for-fifth-in-us.html">Hans Niemann</a> is playing in an open tournament. Do you know about that and what do you think about that?" Nepomniachtchi looked at Mumbled Name as if to inquire, "What is wrong with you?" before noting that he is aware that there is a strong chess tournament taking place nearby "but still, I don't get your question." Mumbled Name mumbled something about Niemann's presence overshadowing the World Chess Championship, and Nepomniachtchi retorted, "No, I don't think so."</p><p>The main thing overshadowing the 2023 World Chess Championship is the low quality of the media coverage.</p>David Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08444347475303187373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6812670776373470303.post-45523130385943658322023-04-21T13:32:00.001-04:002023-04-21T13:32:09.180-04:00Dreaming of Becoming a Journalist Covering the World Chess Championship<p>I recently asked <a href="https://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2023/04/why-do-people-who-ask-idiotic-questions.html">Why Do People Who Ask Idiotic Questions Receive Media Credentials?</a> but after further thought I decided that I just have to work harder to reach the incredible intellectual level of the brilliant people who are privileged to cover the chess world's most important and prestigious event. </p><p>The questions below are modeled after some of the excellent, insightful inquiries made in recent World Chess Championship press conferences, because I realize that there is no way that I could independently think of such questions myself--seriously, I cannot imagine ever asking such questions, but maybe I can dream of reaching such a journalistic pinnacle!</p><p>1) "Is this match more enjoyable for you than your previous World Chess Championship match?" This is a great question to ask to a player who is leading 4-3 after losing the previous World Chess Championship match following a series of blunders.</p><p>2) "Are you familiar with (insert the names of players from an obscure game played a long time ago)? Did this game influence your preparation?" This is a great question because during the World Chess Championship match the players are very much inclined to provide all of the details and background regarding their preparation.</p><p>3) "Today is (insert the name of a holiday from a religion that neither player observes). On this holiday (insert elaborate description of how that holiday is observed). Do you plan to celebrate your victory by observing this holiday?" This may be the most brilliant question yet! During a World Chess Championship match, players cannot wait for the opportunity to engage in elaborate comparative religion discussions.</p><p>4) "Your opponent experienced tremendous time pressure today. How did that make you feel?" The sheer insight of this question renders me speechless.</p><p>5) "Did you choose today's opening for sentimental reasons, or did you have a strategic reason for your choice?" This question is the most brilliant question yet! Clearly, with the World Chess Championship title on the line, we must not ignore the very realistic possibility that the players are choosing openings for sentimental reasons.</p><p>6) "Every game in this match has featured a different opening. Do you plan to play a different opening in the next game, or will you repeat one of the openings you already played during this match?" Again, it is brilliant to expect the players to reveal specifically what they plan to play in upcoming games. Such a question is guaranteed to generate a fascinating answer.</p><p>7) "From 1-10, how do you evaluate your self-confidence now?" This brings to mind <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2KPPzKJrbg">the time that a reporter thought that it would be brilliant to ask Chris Paul if he thought that his team would win their next playoff game</a>. Paul replied, "What? I'm on the team. What do you expect me to say, that it's over?" Clearly, Paul failed to appreciate the brilliance of that question, but it is wonderful that this line of questioning has been brought back to life in the World Chess Championship.<br /></p><p>8) "Do you get excited watching other people play online chess games?" After being asked this question by Mike Klein, Ding Liren pretended that he could not understand the question and kept asking Klein to repeat it. Obviously, the question was so brilliant that Ding wanted to hear it over and over again. What else would world class chess players be doing other than watching other chess players play online games and then getting excited about that? I mean, there is no way that Ding would ask Klein to repeat the question just to highlight how ridiculous the question is, right? After hearing the question several times, Ding stated, "I am not excited to watch the other games played online." <br /></p><p>I am quite sure that I have never thought of such questions before, but the fine journalists at the World Chess Championship have inspired me to stretch my thinking into previously unexplored territory. I doubt that I will ever be asked to cover the World Chess Championship--I appear to lack the requisite intellectual requirements--but I think that I have proven that, if presented the opportunity, I am ready jump into the fray! </p><p>Side note: I think that World Chess Championship press conference questions prefaced by "Mike Klein, Chess.com," are destined to be revered in the same way that NBA press conference questions prefaced by <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAjq3wuZDV4">"Mark Schwarz, ESPN"</a> have become legendary! All Klein needs to do to reach that status is to ask one player if he knows the mental state of the other player, and then keep asking different versions of that same question after the question has been answered. Schwarz won a couple of Sports Emmys for asking questions like that, setting the high bar that other journalists just hope that we can attain with a lot of hard work and deep thought. Schwarz and Klein specialize in asking the questions that all fans wish they could ask. Why would fans want to know about strategy when we could instead recklessly speculate about the mental and emotional states of other people?</p>David Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08444347475303187373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6812670776373470303.post-49551874178798894412023-04-10T16:30:00.001-04:002023-04-10T17:08:59.439-04:00Why Do People Who Ask Idiotic Questions Receive Media Credentials?<p>The World Chess Championship is a <a href="http://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2008/11/viswanathan-anand-becomes-15th-world.html">significant cultural, artistic, and sporting event</a>. In the most recent World Chess Championship, <a href="http://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2021/12/magnus-carlsen-defends-his-world-chess.html">Magnus Carlsen retained his title by defeating challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi, 7.5-3.5</a>. Subsequently, Carlsen declined to defend his crown again, although he still plays in elite level over the board and online chess tournaments. Thus, the current World Chess Championship match--which began in Astana, Kazakhstan on Sunday--pits Nepomniachtchi, the winner of the most recent Candidates Tournament, versus Ding Liren, who finished second in the most recent Candidates Tournament.</p><p>Nepomniachtchi and Ding drew game one on Sunday, but in today's game two Nepomniachtchi sacrificed the Exchange and won in sparkling fashion after Ding played an unusual move order in the opening. Thus, Nepomniachtchi leads 1.5-.5 in a race to 7.5 points; there will be tiebreaker games if the match ends with a 7-7 score.</p><p>After each game, the players participate in a press conference, fielding questions from a moderator, from online questioners, and from credentialed media members attending the event.</p><p>I have worked as a credentialed media member covering sports events, so I have been "treated" to listening to <a href="http://20secondtimeout.blogspot.com/2009/05/brilliant-performance-by-lebron-james.html">idiotic questions asked by the likes of Andre Aldridge and Vincent Thomas</a>. Mike Klein is a FIDE Master who has won a host of journalism awards. He should know better than to ask idiotic questions at a World Chess Championship press conference. His job is to ask questions that inspire the players to provide insights about the game of chess in general and about this prestigious event in particular.<br /></p><p>Instead, today after game two Klein asked Nepomniachtchi who does he expect will be the first person to send him a congratulatory text message after Nepomniachtchi finally won a World Chess Championship game for the first time. In one question, Klein managed to combine a backhanded compliment--was it necessary to remind Nepomniachtchi that this was his first win in World Chess Championship play?--with a question that cannot possibly generate a meaningful answer. Nepomniachtchi replied that he will probably receive congratulations from his parents and from his friends, but that he is mostly avoiding social media to concentrate on the event. Klein followed up by noting that former World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov liked the number 13 and then asking if Nepomniachtchi ascribes any significance to the number 13 since he obtained his first World Chess Championship win in his 13th World Chess Championship game. Nepomniachtchi replied, "No."</p><p>If Klein is trying to be funny, no one is laughing. If he thinks that he is asking insightful questions, no one with any modicum of intelligence would agree.</p><p>Grandmaster Irina Krush, a member of the World Chess Championship online commentary team (along with former World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand), provided a welcome contrast to Klein's foolishness. She asked Nepomniachtchi if during the game he realized that a position similar to one of the game's opening positions had previously been seen in an online blitz game (Ding Liren-Levon Aronian). He replied that he was not sure, because during the game he was focused on figuring out the position's nuances. Nepomniachtchi went into some detail about his in-game thought process. Then, Krush asked Ding if he had been surprised by the recapture ...gxf6. Ding candidly admitted that he had been surprised, and that he had only considered ...Qxf6. He then stated what he had planned to play. Krush's questions were on point, and elicited thoughtful answers from both players. Chess.com can send Klein home, and cede their press conference time to Krush.<br /></p><p>If the tone of this article seems harsh, part of the reason is that Chess.com is a repeat offender in terms of being an organization whose World Chess Championship reporters are woefully unqualified. During the previous World Chess Championship, "Sean from Chess.com" asked Nepomniachtchi if he had shaved off his famous "man bun" after a loss as an act of shame like samurais used to do. That kind of idiotic question does nothing to promote chess, the World Chess Championship, or the journalism profession. As a strong amateur chess player, a fan/historian of the World Chess Championship, and a journalist, I am saddened and offended by such nonsense.<br /></p><p>Is it too much to ask of Chess.com that they hire competent journalists who are capable of asking questions that are not idiotic?</p><p>Side note: is it too much to ask of the various organizations that present awards to journalists that they honor people who are capable of stringing together coherent and insightful thoughts? Klein is just one of many people who have won so many journalism awards that they may actually have deluded themselves into believing that they are credible journalists.<br /></p>David Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08444347475303187373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6812670776373470303.post-78699802863430379582023-04-04T01:19:00.004-04:002023-04-04T01:33:02.002-04:00UConn Defeats San Diego State 76-59 to Claim Fifth NCAA Title Since 1999<p>Few people expected to see the University of Connecticut (UConn) Huskies face the San Diego State University (SDSU) Aztecs in the NCAA Championship Game. Other than Huskies fans, few people are likely to remember much about UConn's 76-59 win. This was not high level basketball as much as it was one team outmatching the other from opening tip until final buzzer; SDSU made a second half run to cut the margin to 60-55 with 5:19 remaining, but UConn closed the game with a 16-4 burst to leave no doubt about their clear superiority. </p><p>UConn's size, speed, and athleticism overwhelmed SDSU in the first half.
UConn built a 16 point lead, and enjoyed a comfortable 36-24 halftime
advantage. The Aztecs shot just 8-28 (.286) from the field while
committing nine turnovers. Yes, SDSU had more first half turnovers than
field goals made! The 60 combined first half points were the lowest
total in an NCAA Championship Game since 2011, when UConn defeated
Butler 53-41. </p><p>UConn's Tristen Newton scored a game-high 19 points, and he tied for game-high
rebounding honors (10) with Adama Sanogo, who added 17 points and
received the 2023 Final Four Most Outstanding Player award. Keshad Johnson paced SDSU with 14 points, while Lamont Butler and Darrion Trammell added 13 points each.</p><p>Since 1999, the Huskies have won five NCAA titles under the direction of
three different coaches (Jim Calhoun: 1999, 2004, 2011; Kevin Ollie:
2014; Dan Hurley: 2023). <br /></p><p></p><p>UConn never trailed en route to a 72-59 win over Miami to advance to the
NCAA Championship Game, and the Huskies won each of their NCAA
Tournament games by double digits. As a fourth seeded team they were
hardly a pre-Tournament favorite, yet in retrospect their championship
run looks inevitable. Even though UConn had a dominant 2023 NCAA Tournament, it is difficult to picture this team even being competitive against NCAA champions from previous eras that had multiple future NBA All-Stars who stayed in school for three or even four years. </p><p>In today's era, the best players play one year of college basketball--at the most--and then they receive highly paid on the job training in the NBA. Thus, the talent in college basketball is watered down, but the NBA is watered down as well, because the league is full of young players who do not yet really understand how to play--and who often miss games due to injuries or load management. Instead of watching Zion Williamson make multiple NCAA Tournament appearances, we watch him sit on the sidelines of NBA games in street clothes. <br /></p><p></p><p></p><p>It never ceases to amaze me when anyone argues that college basketball is more fundamentally sound than NBA basketball. College basketball, even at the highest levels, is filled with young players who have not yet mastered the sport. The worst NBA team would beat either NCAA Finalist by at least 30 points, as I noted in my <a href="http://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-ncaa-tournament-provides-drama-but.html">2022 NCAA Tournament recap</a>:<br /></p><p></p><blockquote><p>There are many reasons that the quality of play at the highest levels
of college basketball is not as good as the quality of play in the NBA.
The first, most obvious, and indisputable reason is that in no field of
endeavor would it be reasonable to expect apprentices to outperform
seasoned professionals: an apprentice craftsman is not superior to an
experienced craftsman, and apprentice basketball teams/players are not
superior to experienced professional basketball teams/players. The
second reason is that there is very little continuity in major college
basketball because the best players leave school after just one season;
this is not to suggest that players should not be allowed to leave or
that they should choose not leave: the point is that the best
college-age basketball players in the world are, for the most part,
playing in the NBA, not in college. The talent drain of young players
going to the NBA means that every year the best college teams are
rebuilding, which in turn means that rivalries--at least in terms of
individual player matchups--cannot be sustained, and it also means that
the best teams do not have a chance to build chemistry or work much on
skill set development. Each college season consists of a breathless race
to determine which group of talented freshmen can gel as quickly as
possible to peak during the one and done NCAA Tournament before the best
players jump straight to the NBA. This is the basketball version of
fast food, not gourmet cooking, and that is why we see unwatchable games
with wretched field goal percentages. <br /></p><p>There is no question
that the worst NBA team could beat the best NCAA team by at least 20-30
points. Not only are the NBA players more athletic, more talented, and
more fundamentally sound, but they are coached better. </p></blockquote><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Tonight's telecast was the record 32nd--and last--Final Four of Jim Nantz' incredible career. Prior to Nantz' first Final Four in 1991, no broadcaster had worked more than six Final Fours. It is safe to say that Nantz' mark will stand for a long time. Nantz is a versatile broadcaster who will continue to work the Masters and the NFL, but for many sports fans he will forever be identified with and connected to college basketball's showcase event. </p><p>Nantz <a href="https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/jim-nantzs-dream-32-year-final-four-run-wraps-as-iconic-voice-of-march-madness-soaks-in-final-moments/">prides himself on his thorough preparation</a>:</p><p></p><blockquote><p>Every basketball assignment Nantz has called for CBS (the number is
somewhere in the vicinity of 575 broadcasts) includes a "game board": a
white, wide, sturdy paper that is his colorful prep sheet of information
and statistics about the players and coaches. Every one of them is
treated as a treasured document. </p><p>"No shortcuts," Nantz says,
eyes down, pen to page and filling out the final board of his career.
"Doesn't matter if it's a game like this or it's a regular-season game.
The effort, the work behind it, has to be there. And otherwise you can't
be comfortable. And I happen to enjoy this process." </p><p>Nantz has
never lost or thrown a single game board out. Every one from his career
is archived, by year, at his Pebble Beach home in California. Last year,
Hill stopped by Nantz's house, and while he was there, Jim pulled out
his board from Dec. 22, 1990, the 10th game of Hill's Duke career--a
game at Oklahoma. </p></blockquote><p></p><p></p><p>When Nantz began doing Final Four games, I was still in college. It will feel strange next year when he is not part of CBS' NCAA Tournament coverage. Ian Eagle will do a great job, but the passage of time is relentless, and seems to accelerate the older that one gets.<br /></p><p></p><p><b>Further Reading:</b></p><p><b><a href="http://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-ncaa-tournament-provides-drama-but.html">The NCAA Tournament Provides Drama, but Does it Provide Great Basketball? (April 2022)</a><br /></b></p><p><b><b><a href="http://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2021/04/baylor-dominates-gonzaga-to-win-2021.html">Baylor Dominates Gonzaga to Win the 2021 NCAA Title (April 2021)</a></b></b></p><p><b><b><a href="https://20secondtimeout.blogspot.com/2018/11/separating-grownups-from-kids-in.html">Separating the Grownups From the Kids in Basketball (November 2018)</a> </b></b></p><b><b></b></b><b><b><a href="https://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2009/04/heels-stomp-spartans.html">Heels Stomp Spartans (2009 NCAA Championship)</a></b></b><p></p><p><b><b><a href="https://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2008/04/chalm-in-clutch-kansas-defeats-memphis.html">C(h)alm in the Clutch: Kansas Defeats Memphis in OT, 75-68 (2008 NCAA Championship)</a> <br /></b></b></p><p><b></b></p><p><b><a href="https://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2008/03/early-entry-players-have-diluted-both.html">Early Entry Players Have Diluted Both College and Pro Basketball (March 2008)</a></b> <br /></p>David Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08444347475303187373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6812670776373470303.post-25741566213544821922023-04-03T10:01:00.002-04:002023-04-03T10:10:55.654-04:00"Reggie": A Personal Portrait of One of the Greatest Clutch Baseball Players of All-Time<p>Reggie Jackson is one of my favorite athletes of all-time, and <a href="https://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2007/07/anticipation-and-memory.html">I will always remember being captivated as a young child by his three home runs off of three different pitchers in game six of the 1977 World Series.</a> "Reggie," a documentary about Jackson's life that includes extensive interview footage with Jackson, premiered recently on Amazon Prime. I just watched the film, and it was great to see the story not only of Jackson's rise as a great baseball player but also how he overcame racism. Also, before watching "Reggie" I did not know that my favorite basketball player of all-time--<a href="http://20secondtimeout.blogspot.com/2015/09/why-julius-erving-belongs-in-greatest.html">Julius Erving</a>--has long been close friends with one of my two favorite baseball players of all-time (<a href="https://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2008/07/eric-davis-like-having-atomic-bomb.html">Eric Davis</a> is my other favorite baseball player).</p><p>Jackson bashed 563 home runs to rank sixth on MLB's career home
run list when he retired, though he has now officially dropped out of
the top 10 <a href="https://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2013/11/reggie-jackson-laments-how-ped-users.html">after his numbers were surpassed by PED cheaters</a>.
MLB ranks Jackson 14th now, but if you take out the PED-enhanced
numbers posted by Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire,
and Rafael Palmeiro then Jackson ranks ninth; regarding the other three
players who passed Jackson, Ken Griffey Jr. never had the body changes
or numbers changes denoting PED usage, while Albert Pujols and Jim Thome
are--according to what is publicly known and documented--the two
greatest clean sluggers of the PED era.</p><p>Jackson played on five World Series championship teams (1972-74 with the Oakland A's, 1977-78 with the New York Yankees), capturing regular season MVP honors in 1973, and the World Series MVP in 1973 and 1977. That legendary three home run performance in 1977 cemented his reputation as "Mr. October," a nickname first given to Jackson not as a compliment but as a sarcastic remark by teammate Thurman Munson, who did not always see eye to eye with Jackson. Munson died in a 1979 plane crash. <br /></p><p>Near the beginning of the documentary, Jackson looks into the camera and says, "I have hesitation with this documentary because I don't have control of it." Despite his hesitation, Jackson welcomed the cameras to his home, and he set up a gorgeous shot with some of the classic cars from his legendary collection. He also let the viewer be privy to a phone conversation with <a href="https://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2015/12/pete-rose-does-not-belong-back-in.html">Pete Rose</a>, who needled Jackson that he is "shrinking," quipping that if Jackson gets any shorter he could ride horses as a jockey. Jackson laughed and admitted that he is only 5-10 now (Jackson was listed at 6-0 during his playing career).</p><p>Jackson talked with <a href="https://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2021/01/authentic-home-run-king-hank-aaron.html">Hank Aaron</a> about Aaron's pursuit of Babe Ruth's home run record. Aaron contrasted the invective directed at him by some people for breaking Ruth's record the praise that Pete Rose later received for breaking Ty Cobb's hits record. Aaron concluded, with a sad and weary look on his face, "Baseball has been backwards for a long time." </p><p>Jackson recalled being drafted by the Kansas City A's and then being sent to play minor league baseball in Birmingham, Alabama, home to the infamous Bull Connor. It is chilling to see archival footage of Connor looking into the camera and stating that he may not be able to keep Birmingham segregated forever but that he will "die trying." In the South, Jackson's teammates had to bring food to him on the team bus because restaurants refused to serve Black patrons.</p><p>Jackson soon was promoted to the big leagues with the A's in 1967. The A's moved to Oakland in 1968. Jackson quickly became a big star, but he ran afoul of team owner Charlie Finley after requesting a raise. Jackson held out of spring training, and then was benched upon his return to the team. Jackson fumed at being relegated to a limited role, but when he got an opportunity to pinch hit he made the most of it: "I had to honor the guy in the mirror that I looked at, and really say that I got everything out of what I could do. That was my goal in the game: just go out there and do something, and you won't need to talk. I hadn't played, I hadn't had spring training, but this is what I do. I'm in charge here. Once I get out of here [the playing field], and you have control of me, I'm boxed up. But not here. He's got to throw the ball over here past me, and it ain't passing." Jackson chuckled at the end of that statement, and then he concluded the story: "I hit a home run to center field with the bases loaded, and it won the game for us. And when I got around to home plate, I saluted Charlie Finley like this" (in the documentary, Jackson mimicked the well-known one finger salute, without actually making the gesture on camera).</p><p>Jackson injured his leg stealing home in the deciding game of the 1972 American League Championship Series versus Detroit, and he was unable to play in that year's World Series. He will never forget Jackie Robinson being publicly honored during the 1972 World Series for the 25th anniversary of breaking MLB's color line. When Robinson spoke to the crowd, he mentioned how proud he would be when the day finally came that he would see a Black manager in MLB. That stuck with Jackson. Robinson died nine days later. In 1975, Frank Robinson (not related to Jackie Robinson) became MLB's first Black manager. <br /></p><p>Jackson mentioned that the most important thing for a pro athlete is to win championships--not one championship, but more than one, to prove that you can be consistently dominant. Jackson dominated in 1973, winning MVP honors in the regular season and the World Series. </p><p>After showing highlights from that triumph, the documentary shifted to the current time, with Jackson visiting Julius Erving's home. Car aficionado Jackson looked with admiration at Erving's 1985 Rolls Royce, pointing to the car's distinctive hood ornament and asking Erving if he knows what it is called. Erving did not know, and Jackson said, "That's called the lady of ecstasy." Erving chuckled: "You know more about my car than I do."</p><p>Erving and Jackson asked members of the camera crew how old they were in 1985. Answers ranged from four and five to "I wasn't born yet."</p><p>It was a surprise and a treat to see Erving highlights in "Reggie." Jackson commented, "When someone says, 'You've got something in common with Dr. J,' you know what I say? That I'm bad!" Erving laughed, and with his typical modesty replied, "You know it's the other way around." Jackson insisted, "No way," and he tried to imitate Erving's famous reverse layup from the 1980 NBA Finals when Erving floated through the air from one side of the hoop to the other, holding the ball aloft over the out of bounds line, before flipping in a sensational shot like it was a routine move. Pro athletes do not tend to gush about other pro athletes--particularly other pro athletes who are from their generation--but I have noticed over the years that Erving is one of the few sports icons who turns even Hall of Famers into gushing little kids.</p><p>Erving is an eloquent speaker, and it brought tears to my eyes when he explained his heartfelt feelings about his friendship with Jackson: "The 70's was a good time. In my lifetime, I have had a few special relationships when somebody has extended the hand of friendship, and then after that it's like no strings attached. Maybe there is some divine intervention just saying that you should stay connected with this person, like a second family. I lost my brother and my sister in life, but I have a brother in you. I'm not a big baseball fan, but I'm a Reggie Jackson fan. So nobody can say anything bad about you." Erving paused for a beat, and jokingly added, "No matter how much cause you give them. They can't say nothing bad about you around me."</p><p>Erving and Jackson talked about role models who influenced them. Erving noted that Jackie Robinson had a "turn the other cheek" mentality, while Jim Brown represented a "get out of my face" attitude, so athletes had a choice to decide which path to take. Erving and Jackson both emphasized how much they respect Robinson, while also stating that they identified more with Brown's approach. </p><p>Jackson's time with the A's ended after the 1975 season, when Finley refused to pay market value to keep his star-laden team together. Jackson found out that he had been <a href="https://www.mlb.com/news/reggie-jackson-1976-orioles">traded to Baltimore</a> by hearing the news on the radio. Erving, who led the New York Nets to two ABA titles in his three seasons with the team, was also traded by an owner (Roy Boe) who was unwilling or unable to pay market value (though Boe's hands were probably more tied than Finley's, as Boe had to pay various costs associated with the ABA-NBA merger, including an indemnification fee to the New York Knicks for being based in the same market).</p><p>Jackson played one season for Baltimore before signing with the New York Yankees. He wanted to wear number 42 in honor of Jackie Robinson, but that number was unavailable, so he chose to wear number 44 in honor of Hank Aaron.</p><p>To this day, Jackson says that he does not understand why he and Yankees Manager Billy Martin had such a contentious relationship. Jackson respected Martin's scrappy personality. However, Jackson also feels that race and racism impacted Martin's attitude toward him. Jackson believes that Martin initially refused to let him hit cleanup--his natural spot in the batting order--because Martin did not want a Black man to fill that role for the Yankees. Things came to a head when Martin felt that Jackson did not hustle to go after a ball in the outfield, and Martin pulled Jackson from the game in the middle of the inning, a humiliating move that Jackson did not accept blithely. The two men confronted each other in the dugout and had to be separated. Jackson noted that Black baseball players such as Bob Gibson, Hank Aaron, and Frank Robinson were wrongly depicted as angry when in reality they "are hurt. They are disappointed. They are searching for dignity."</p><p>Martin eventually put Jackson in the cleanup role. Not surprisingly, Jackson thrived, and the Yankees moved up in the standings, setting the stage for the team's dramatic 1977 run to the World Series title.<br /></p><p>There are few images in pro sports as dramatic and dynamic as Reggie Jackson's home run swing. He seemed to corkscrew his legs into the ground as his powerfully muscled torso exploded into the ball and sent it on a one way trip out of the ballpark. Jackson poured every ounce of his mental, emotional, and physical energy into that swing, and the ball fled his bat as if it feared the power he had just unleashed.</p><p>Jackson believes that his biggest advantage was that around the 120 game mark of the season everyone else was tired but he was not. During his career, he clearly showed on more than one occasion that he possessed the ability to produce when it mattered the most. "Stat gurus" can insist that the hot hand does not exist and that elevated performance by some players in clutch situations is a myth, but if you have ever played competitive sports and took it seriously then you know better. Reggie Jackson epitomizes clutch play in a way that few athletes in any sport ever have. In team sports, a rare athlete like Reggie Jackson not only elevates his own play when it matters most, but his attitude, approach, and confident demeanor infuse his teammates with confidence. Of course, a player who lacks those traits can infect his teammates with doubt. </p><p>Jackson will forever identify himself and be identified as a Yankee, even though he spent just five seasons with the Bronx Bombers. Yankees owner George Steinbrenner later lamented that letting Jackson leave was his biggest mistake. Jackson continued to be productive for several years after departing New York, but as he approached his 40th birthday he realized that mentally he was not quite where he once had been, and so he knew that it was time to retire.</p><p>After retiring, he worked for the Yankees as a special advisor for many years, but he yearned to become a team owner, and he still laments not receiving that opportunity. Jackson candidly admits that he was depressed for a while without even realizing it. Jackson, feeling that his opportunities with the Yankees were limited, joined the Houston Astros, and now serves as a special advisor for that franchise. His love for the game and his eagerness to pass down his knowledge to the current generation of players are palpable.<br /></p><p>Bonus film clips accompanying the documentary include brief excerpts from separate conversations that Jackson had with Hank Aaron<a href="https://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2022/12/four-time-super-bowl-champion-running.html">,</a> <a href="https://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2022/12/four-time-super-bowl-champion-running.html">Franco Harris</a>, Rick Hendrick, and Bob Kendrick. Aaron, who passed away in 2021, recalled growing up in Mobile, Alabama, and how his mother would call him into the house to hide under the bed when she knew that the Ku Klux Klan was in town. Harris and Jackson talked about the honor and privilege of having your number retired. Hendrick recalled spending a whole day with Jackson at a ceremony when the legendary race car team owner was honored as the car dealer of the year. Jackson had tears in his eyes by the end of that day, and when Hendrick--who had never seen Jackson be that emotional--asked why, Jackson said that at the ceremony he did not see anyone who looked like him. Hendrick said that Jackson's comment made a deep impression on him; afterward, Hendrick developed a leadership academy to mentor people of color to find the individuals best qualified to work in his organization. Hendrick also provided Jackson with the opportunity to own a car dealership in Raleigh, North Carolina. Kendrick took Jackson on a tour of the Negro Leagues Museum, and discussed how the advocacy of Babe Ruth and Ted Williams helped Negro League players receive deserved recognition that they might otherwise have not received from the general baseball community (including the Baseball Hall of Fame).</p><p>During the documentary, Jackson admitted to wondering if he has done enough to help his community. It should be noted that Jackson's <a href="https://mroctober.org/">Mr. October Foundation</a> has worked with thousands of children in underserved communities to provide STEM educational opportunities.</p>David Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08444347475303187373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6812670776373470303.post-53977323437030840122023-03-23T22:38:00.003-04:002023-05-05T20:23:09.470-04:00Journey to the National Master Title, Part 3<p>The March 12, 2023 East Market Swiss will always be one of the most special tournaments of my chess career. That is not because I shared first place, but rather because it was my eight year old daughter Rachel Sophia's first rated tournament. I taught Rachel how to set up the pieces when she was two years old, and she learned the basic rules well enough to play a chess game before she was three years old, but up until this point she had been more interested in playing casual games than in playing tournament games. A while ago, I explained to her the differences between tournament chess and casual chess, and I left it up to her to decide if/when she would like to play in a rated tournament.</p><p>I showed the East Market to Rachel during FaceTime, and perhaps seeing the playing site in advance helped her decide to take the plunge. I told Rachel that I lost all five games in my first rated tournament, so the goal at the beginning is to have fun and learn as opposed to focusing on the final result. Rachel is probably better at enjoying a game without focusing on the final result than I am anyway, so she may not have even needed that message!</p><p>Rachel's only concern about playing rated chess is that it is difficult for her to both record the moves and use the clock (she is fully capable of doing both, but prefers not to do both during the same game). I understand that there are two valid perspectives about this: one perspective is that a child should wait to play tournament chess until the child is able to follow all of the tournament rules, while the other perspective is that the value of early immersion in the tournament environment is more important than writing down the moves. I have been both a player and a coach, and my perspective is that this should be dealt with on a case by case basis with young children. The reality is that most young children who keep score produce scoresheets that are riddled with inaccuracies and missing moves, so unless a child is already proficient at keeping score I think it is more beneficial to practice that skill in between tournaments, and to use tournaments as an opportunity to practice playing skills and clock management "under fire." Rachel is eight years old and the East Market Swiss is not a national championship or a FIDE rated event, so from my perspective Rachel is sufficiently prepared because she knows the rules of tournament chess and can play a game with a clock without any assistance. However, I checked with East Market tournament director Lou Friscoe before the event to make sure that he would be OK with Rachel not keeping notation, and he said that would be fine. </p><p>Rachel lost her first two rated games, but her round three game was a long battle in which both sides had winning chances. Rachel won after noticing that her opponent had run out of time. She politely pointed this out to tournament director Lou Friscoe, who declared Rachel the winner because she still had sufficient checkmating material left on the board. Rachel lost her fourth round game, but overall we both enjoyed the whole day's experience, from listening to music during the car ride to East Market to having pizza for lunch at East Market to playing video games between rounds to going to Book Loft after the tournament ended. All of Rachel's opponents were gracious, and each provided me with a copy of his scoresheet (which matters more to me than Rachel now, but may be significant to Rachel later if she becomes interested in going over her games or just looking back on how she played during her first rated games). Rachel's four game provisional rating is 685.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFV1Ha0fxx5u2scpqb_OpcdfMigLsUOCFyaF_CfIJidFaZUvsngcguoDuG-xrvgdTGFRrctHfLUk6_ng2v1gYjFZOZLPbRaDcevMX9uJ7O8aJ-AzRgRdcvShTiRUJyI5b8O7uajn3I6D7i-TP6BiP3aO2-hvK5zAmidu3km9kT7iabs2e_4jgtNJNOMQ/s1544/IMG_7858.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1544" data-original-width="1158" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFV1Ha0fxx5u2scpqb_OpcdfMigLsUOCFyaF_CfIJidFaZUvsngcguoDuG-xrvgdTGFRrctHfLUk6_ng2v1gYjFZOZLPbRaDcevMX9uJ7O8aJ-AzRgRdcvShTiRUJyI5b8O7uajn3I6D7i-TP6BiP3aO2-hvK5zAmidu3km9kT7iabs2e_4jgtNJNOMQ/s320/IMG_7858.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Rachel and I enjoyed the 3/12/23 East Market Swiss</i></span></span><p> </p><p>Playing tournament games while also wondering how Rachel is doing is a new experience for me. The end result--three straight wins followed by a last round draw with the second seeded player--was good, but I had some concentration lapses at times. I was the top seeded player, so even a 4-0 performance would not have netted a large rating point gain, but winning the tournament and gaining three points while Rachel also won a game is about the best that I could have expected.<br /></p><p>I played in two other over the board chess tournaments since I wrote <a href="http://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2023/02/journey-to-national-master-title-part-2.html">Journey to the National Master Title, Part 2</a>, scoring 3/4 in the February 26, 2023 East Market Swiss to tie for third place while losing three rating points, and scoring 3/4 in the February 18, 2023 G/45 Open (in Columbus) to tie for second place while gaining five rating points. Overall, I scored eight wins, one loss, and three draws in those three tournaments, with one first place finish. With a rating of 2013 after these three events, <b>I need to gain 187 points to reach my goal</b>. </p><p>In 2023, I have scored 22 wins, seven draws, and four losses in regular
rated tournament games with four first place finishes in nine
events--but two losses to players rated below 1700 were costly, and as a result my net rating gain for 2023 is just one point so far. The good news is that my official rating supplement rating has been above 2000 each month since April 2022, my longest such streak since 2017; I have established a beachhead above 2000, and the next step is to surpass the 2100 level.<br /></p>David Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08444347475303187373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6812670776373470303.post-6111879082683862482023-03-09T00:48:00.001-05:002023-03-09T00:59:48.551-05:00Jim Boeheim's 47 Season Syracuse Coaching Career Ends Unceremoniously<p>Jim Boeheim's Syracuse coaching career is over. The circumstances surrounding his departure are bizarre and murky, but it is clear that he will not be returning because the university issued a statement noting that Associate Head Coach Adrian Autry will be Syracuse's coach next season without indicating if Boeheim retired, if the parties mutually decided that Boeheim would not return, or if Syracuse fired Boeheim without wanting to say so explicitly (it is also not clear why the statement capitalized "Associate Head Coach" but did not capitalize coach).<br /></p><p>At a press conference after Wake Forest beat Syracuse 77-74 in the ACC Tournament, Boeheim stubbornly refused to answer a simple question: Is he retiring or not? Boeheim said that whether or not he retires "is up to the university." That is not how retirement works; that is how firing works: the employee decides whether or not to retire, while the employer decides whether or not to fire the employee. Boeheim also said, "I gave my retirement speech last week and nobody picked up on it." </p><p>One gets the impression that Boeheim did not want to leave and Syracuse did not want to admit to firing him, so the parties are just acknowledging the breakup without applying a label to it. I cannot recall another coach of Boeheim's prominence whose coaching career ended in such a disjointed fashion; there have been successful coaches who received a farewell tour and there have been successful coaches who were fired after sticking around too long, but it is unusual for a successful coach to just abruptly disappear while hinting that he is not ready to go.</p><p>Before Boeheim became a coach, he played for Syracuse alongside <a href="http://20secondtimeout.blogspot.com/2008/12/catching-up-withdave-bing.html">future Hall of Famer Dave Bing, who told me</a>,
"Jimmy was one of those players who was just totally underrated. He came to Syracuse as a non-scholarship player and he did not
get a scholarship until his sophomore year. We roomed together as sophomores and juniors and became very good friends and talked
basketball quite a bit. It was evident to me way back then that Jimmy would become a good coach. He was a steady player. He was smart in that
he knew how to get open and he was a good shooter. Whenever I drove to the basket he was smart enough to get to the open spot and he could put
it down. He had a very good senior year." <br /></p><p></p><p>Boeheim was inducted in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach in 2005, two years after he won his first and only national championship with a squad headlined by Carmelo Anthony. Boeheim led Syracuse to the Final Four five times in four different decades (1987, 1996, 2003, 2013, 2016). <a href="https://stats.ncaa.org/people/1711?sport_code=MBB">He posted a 1015-441 record</a>, ranking second all-time on the Division I wins list behind Mike Krzyzewski. Boeheim played a significant role in the <a href="http://20secondtimeout.blogspot.com/2005/11/will-supersized-big-east-become.html">Big East's emergence as a dominant college basketball conference in the 1980s</a>, and he later served as an assistant coach for Team USA's Olympic gold medal winning teams in <a href="http://20secondtimeout.blogspot.com/2008/08/kobe-takes-over-in-fourth-quarter-team.html">2008</a>, <a href="http://20secondtimeout.blogspot.com/2012/08/durant-james-and-bryant-lead-as-team.html">2012</a>, and <a href="http://20secondtimeout.blogspot.com/2016/08/kevin-durant-dominates-as-team-usa.html">2016</a>. </p><p>However, there is a less glamorous side to sustained high level success in college sports. Danny Tarkanian, an attorney and the son of Hall of Fame coach Jerry Tarkanian, insists that it is not possible to have great success at the top level of college basketball while running a clean program, as I discussed in my review of his book <a href="http://20secondtimeout.blogspot.com/2020/03/rebel-with-cause-danny-tarkanian-tells.html">Rebel With a Cause: The True Story of Jerry Tarkanian</a>: <br /></p><p></p><blockquote>He asserts that no current big-time
collegiate sports program can survive without violating the NCAA's
rules, quoting former American University Coach Ed Tapscott (p. 112):
"The crime in the NCAA is not in breaking the rules. It's in getting
caught. We have our own MAD--Mutually Assured Destruction. There's a
threshold of dirty linen we can all build up, and know that all of us
agree tacitly not to disclose it. Because none of us could succeed
without breaking the rules."<br />
<br />
Sam Gilbert, a so-called "booster," provided a host of improper/illegal
benefits to UCLA's basketball players from the mid-1960s until the early
1980s, during which time Coach John Wooden led UCLA to an unprecedented
run of 10 championships in a 12 year span, including seven in a row
(1967-73). The NCAA did not take any action against UCLA during Wooden's
run of championships, but in 1981--long after Wooden had retired, and
after the <i>Los Angeles Times </i>conducted an in depth
investigation--the NCAA determined that UCLA had committed over a
decade's worth of violations. The NCAA did not vacate any of Wooden's
championships, but only vacated UCLA's 1980 Final Four run, while also
placing the basketball team on probation for two years. Coach Wooden
denied having knowledge of Gilbert's activities, and it was never proven
that Coach Wooden knew, but Coach Wooden also admitted that during that
time he had "tunnel vision" and "trusted too much."</blockquote>
<p>In 2015, Boeheim joined the long list of coaches punished by the NCAA for violating NCCA rules. The NCAA suspended Boeheim for nine games, and vacated 101 of his wins from 2004-2012. That is the third most wins ever vacated for a single school.</p>
<p>An even more disturbing scandal involving the Syracuse basketball program became public knowledge in 2011. <a href="https://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/2011/11/bernie-fine-case-reveals-double.html">Bernie Fine</a>, Boeheim's right hand man for 36 years, was not criminally charged, but credible allegations of child abuse cost him his job at Syracuse. In a recorded conversation with former Syracuse ball boy (and Bernie Fine accuser) Bobby Davis, <a href="https://www.syracuse.com/news/2011/11/read_the_transcript_excerpts_f.html">Fine's wife Laurie indicated that she knew that her husband's behavior with minors had been inappropriate</a>. Boeheim publicly defended and excused Fine well past the point that it was acceptable or reasonable to do so, to the extent that two of Fine's accusers sued Boeheim and Syracuse for slander. Before the case proceeded to trial, <a href="https://www.syracuse.com/orangebasketball/2015/08/syracuse_jim_boeheim_settle_slander_lawsuit_with_bobby_davis_and_mike_land.html">Boeheim and Syracuse paid an undisclosed settlement to resolve the matter</a>, with the university issuing this statement: "Coach Boeheim regrets that he made those statements and that he
questioned the integrity of Bobby Davis and Michael Lang. Since then, he has publicly committed to focus his
charitable efforts on providing assistance to victims of sexual abuse,
which he continues to do. We are glad to announce that we have resolved
the defamation case that Mr. Davis and Mr. Lang brought, and look
forward to putting this behind us."</p><p>On February 20, 2019, Boeheim drove a car that struck and killed Jorge Jimenez, who had been standing at the side of the road next to a disabled car. Boeheim had been speeding on an icy road prior to the fatal accident, but after a police investigation the authorities declined to press charges against Boeheim. In 2020, the Jimenez estate filed a civil suit against Boeheim and Syracuse, alleging that Boeheim's negligent driving caused Jimenez' death. I found no public record of that case being resolved yet.<br /></p><p>Boeheim's fans will understandably focus on Syracuse's 2003 NCAA title and nearly five decades of sustained on court success, but there are other aspects of Boeheim's career and life story that do not get nearly as much attention as the shortcomings exhibited by other similarly prominent figures who are regularly excoriated by media members who specialize in practicing selective outrage.<br /></p>David Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08444347475303187373noreply@blogger.com0