Anecdotals...

Originally posted by royalchicken
Hehe...thanks muchly. Erm, the Charlie & Bertie thing was so subtle that I don't quite know what it is 😕. Incidentally, when you shock RHP with your rapidly expanding chess skillz this fall, I'd recommend joining or forming a clan. I can just imagine Kirk's Playboy interview...

It's not very subtle. Just read "Why I Am Not A Christian" by Bertie.
It was a great help to me at one point in my life. To be FEATURED ON THE "APOSTLES" HOME PAGE! Well! I never! And Charlie... Enough to just reflect on the "Scopes" of being likewise featured. It's enough to "Try" the soul of man!

As for Chess... I have a big confession. I don't really enjoy it that much. I know, i know. I just am not very good at it, and i don't want to be better. I can't tell the difference between winning a game and losing a game. Not a good mind set for a Chess player. The longest i ever took on a single move was about 30 seconds. Ain't gunna be very good with an attention span like that. I got more aggravated at a certain player (last game i finished on july 24) for poor sportsmanship than i can explain. It made me just pack it in for a while.

Interesting. I suppose I understand where you're coming from, and I think a break is good. (Although denigrating your skills after you trounced me like that is prolly not exactly accurate 😉.) While some would find it odd, I think it's cool that you hang around given that (or did I just badger you too much with PMs?). Anyway, to each his own.

I've just been learning some chess from his excellency T1000, and finding a bit more of an appreciation (because I'm basically a seat 'o the pants patzer as well) for the game. <nods to T1000's teaching skills.>

I really enjoy the Forum's. And i like to look at public games. It is fun to "glance and guess" at the next move. For me, that is as fun as playing.

Well I'm glad you're sticking around then. I always enjoy talking to you. I'm also an occasional public-game glancer, and, sonn-to-be student of chess, I think.

My wife teases me that I am just a frustrated essayist. I enjoy writing short bits. The "Logging" thing is an example. I am afraid I mostly just bore people to death, but that is the good thing about the forums. Nobody is forcing anybody to read them.😏 Anyway, nice chatting. I am going to go spend a couple of hours reading Mr.Pinkers tome... Have a good week-end. We are going to the Sheakspeare festival in Cedar City, Utah this next week. Need to see if they really deserved their "emmy" for best regional live theatre. Have a good week.

Enjoy your read...nice talking to you. Have a good week as well.

Enjoy His Bardness.

Originally posted by Chrismo [parts omitted]
... 12 kilometers each way,... on a scooter.

I get 30 days holiday a year, not including bank holidays, and am 'sick', on average, maybe, say, 5 days per year.

My scooter cost me 1700 pounds, including my helmet and ...[text shortened]... am financially better off than if I had carried on with the tube?

here's what i came up with.
first i converted the 12km to miles (7.5) to fit in with the rest.
i don't know how many bank holidays there are but i'll say six on average.
so, you work (5*52 + 1) (five days a week for 52 weeks plus one day for the 365th)) - (30 (holiday) + 5 (sick) + 6 (bank)) gives 220 work days per year, at 15 miles a day for 3300 miles a year.
now divide that by 70, which gives 47.14 gallons of petrol. multiplying that by 2.9 (price per gallon) is about 136.72 pounds.
so, scooter price per year (assuming you don't use it for any non-work-related trips such as your holiday activities) is 136.72, vs. tube of 960 (80/month * 12 months) for a net savings of 823.28.
your initial investment was 1820 pounds so after one year (which will come up shortly) your total expese (ignoring maintenance) is 1956.72 less the 960 you would have spent, leaving 996.72 to recoup.
at the end of november 2004, you will have spent another 136.72 (assuming everything remains constant), but will have saved another 960. so, 996.72 - 960 is 36.72, plus 136.72, giving 173.44.
two more months of scooter vs tube would be 173.44 + 2 * 13.40 (approx. petrol per month) -160, for 40.24 left, so we go one more month and so you would be in the clear after february 2005.
assuming you and the scooter suffer no ill effects, this sounds like a worthwhile goal.

now for my anecdote:
when i was in high school and college, i was noted for promoting pawns to bishops when i was winning handily. for this purpose, i got a bunch of bishops from old sets (four of each color) and carried them around in a bag. it was comical! one of my more notorious moments was checkmating a nun (the coach of a high school chess team) with six bishops, as outlined in another post. in an informal game i once had nine bishops (divided six-three but i don't remember how many of which color) on the board!
well, i once decided to see just how long i could make a game last. so i cleared the board of my opponent's pieces, trapped his king on the side with a rook, did nothing (such as moving my rook and king around, being careful not to stalemate or repeat) for 48 moves, and pushed a pawn one square. my poor opponent finally grew tired of this and resigned on move 319! at that time, i think i had three or four bishops and had three more pawns to promote.
here's the question i'll pose:
assuming that you observe the fifty-move and other draw rules, what is the maximum possible number of moves a game of chess can last?