John Lewis wrote on Thu, Oct 20, 2005 03:09 AM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
I think I can clear up the problems presented by those who are mystified by
the rules of Stanley Random Chess. As the current American Grand Master, I
can assure you that even I find it hard to keep up with the volumes of
rules and stipulations that are involved. In fact, I would suggest that
about 50% of the moves I make feel as if they were chosen at random from
all the possible moves available at that time. It's only afterwards that
I'm able to determine the reason for my own errors, after looking up the
specifics of the situation in my leatherbound library. (My personal
Achilles Heel are the moon phase transition instituted in Berlin, 1484.)
So while I often like to open with e4, about half the time my opening move
is substituted with the nearest legal ('random', to the layman) move from
all the available legal moves. Again, I've never failed to be able to
find the rational for this transition upon review of the historical
journals. I almost always find time to note these transitions to my
opponent, who sometimes finds such things humourous. For example, when a
King joins inline with a row of pawns, this is known as 'Slumming'.
When a Queen is prematurely brought into play she is often refered to as
'Dancing'. The terminology is quiet liberating.
Should you have further questions, I'm sure playing a game would satisfy
your curiosity. Feel free to challenge me on Scheming Minds.
I think I can clear up the problems presented by those who are mystified by the rules of Stanley Random Chess. As the current American Grand Master, I can assure you that even I find it hard to keep up with the volumes of rules and stipulations that are involved. In fact, I would suggest that about 50% of the moves I make feel as if they were chosen at random from all the possible moves available at that time. It's only afterwards that I'm able to determine the reason for my own errors, after looking up the specifics of the situation in my leatherbound library. (My personal Achilles Heel are the moon phase transition instituted in Berlin, 1484.) So while I often like to open with e4, about half the time my opening move is substituted with the nearest legal ('random', to the layman) move from all the available legal moves. Again, I've never failed to be able to find the rational for this transition upon review of the historical journals. I almost always find time to note these transitions to my opponent, who sometimes finds such things humourous. For example, when a King joins inline with a row of pawns, this is known as 'Slumming'. When a Queen is prematurely brought into play she is often refered to as 'Dancing'. The terminology is quiet liberating. Should you have further questions, I'm sure playing a game would satisfy your curiosity. Feel free to challenge me on Scheming Minds.