I'm really a bit bemused by all this. I'm not really sure what Jean's concern was.
He now appears to be resigning all his games, which means our games are no longer in progress.
In Game 1851055, we played down the main line of the MacCutcheon, a variation I've played for years, and I'm quite familiar with these positions. I thought I was doing ok after 15...Qe7, but this has all been played before. I thought he lost the thread a bit and let me get the c-pawn, but I'm not that much better.
In Game 1850890, we played down a Nimzo line. This is a variation which I've just started to play, so I was following the book closely. When we got to Black's move 15, Jean commented that he wasn't going to play 15... Qd7, which Ivanovic played against Kasparov and got humped. Instead, he played Kasparov's recomendation 15...b5, but my book still dealt with that, so I was still following the same basic plan (though Jean's ....Re6 was new).
My point is that both games were just out of the opening. Sure, I thought I was a bit better in both (but nothing huge), but I've been in better positions against titled players and still screwed up.
Also, I appreciate it isn't much fun when an opponent '600 points your junior' catches you out in the opening, but that is one of the points of correspondence chess, and it wasn't that disastrous.
I certainly don't think these games justifies what appears to be a huge crisis in confidence.
I wish Jean well, he has always been a helpful opponent - we had a long conversation after a previous game which was particularly wild (the game, not the conversation), and he was very gracious and helpful.
But I still just don't get it.
Originally posted by RedmikeI would guess, Redmike, that Jean decided to leave the site because it was becoming clear that playing here was not a particularly good way to maintain his skills. He had beaten most of the top players here already (with the exception of a few), and really had nothing to prove. We all know that when we play players who are below our own skill level (generally speaking), we don't improve, and run the risk of actually declining in skill. I believe Jean is in his late 40s and at this point in his career probably wishes to keep his skills honed by competing mostly against players of master strength. But as he is both humble and polite, it was probably a bit awkward for him to express this realization. Frankly, I'm surprised he was ever here to begin with. He is one of Canada's top players and has been for many years. In Quebec, his home province, he is something of a legend, and has been a dominant player since the 1970s.
I'm really a bit bemused by all this. I'm not really sure what Jean's concern was.
He now appears to be resigning all his games, which means our games are no longer in progress.
In Game 1851055, we played down the main line of the MacCutcheon, a variation I've played for years, and I'm quite familiar with these positions. I thought I was doing o tion), and he was very gracious and helpful.
But I still just don't get it.
it is interesting ... this often happens ...
people come here and play just a few games ... then while they are waiting they start a few more ..
then more ... and more and more ...
suddenly they are playing 100 games and moving fast in all of them regardless how complex the position ... and things fall apart.
we have seen this over and over for many players ... now we see it happen to a famous well known experienced OTB player that we know ...
interesting!
p.s. i hope he comes back and restricts himself to 30 games.
I looked at the games Jean Hebert resigned. He was down in most of them.
I don't think you should take this personally, Red Mike. He was having trouble in a lot of his games.
Maybe he was playing too many games. Maybe he was burned out.
I do want to say that I don't see anything heroic or laudatory in resigning 17 games all at once and saying "I quit."
Looking at the games, it appears to me that he would have lost most of them any. So instead he resigns en mass and deludes himself. It's very sad really.