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OTB gamesmanship? (Read 2873 times)

Markovich God Member Offline Posts: 6099 Location: Columbus, Ohio Joined: 09/17/04	Re: OTB gamesmanship? Reply #6 - 06/06/07 at 12:02:13	Post Tools	Print Post
	I gave these odds once, back in high school, mating my opponent with the designated pawn, which in that case was the QBP. You can win at these odds if your opponent essentially has no game, so that you can just win all his pieces, then figure out how to push his king to the desired location. There was no ring involved.

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kylemeister God Member Offline Posts: 4989 Location: USA Joined: 10/24/05	Re: OTB gamesmanship? Reply #5 - 06/06/07 at 02:30:27	Post Tools	Print Post
	I recall reading something about this, but I believe the account I read said that the ring placed around the pawn was generally made of paper.


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Smyslov_Fan God Member Correspondence fan Offline Progress depends on the unreasonable man. ~GBS Posts: 6902 Joined: 06/15/05	Re: OTB gamesmanship? Reply #4 - 06/06/07 at 00:40:24	Post Tools	Print Post
	Well, if there really was such odds and they date back to pre-WWII days, then: a) the person who made those odds was almost certainly a married male (or at least affianced). Relatively few other males of the time who played chess would have worn rings. (Yes, I know that there are exceptions.) b) If I'm correct, finding a chess player who had the ability and desire to make good on such odds while being married at the same time should be pretty easy to work out! c) The player who took the "ringed" pawn would not draw, but win such a game. It seems that the person who made the bet probably thought that finding the right person to marry was akin to the odds of winning such a game. It would take a certain amount of alcohol for me to play such a game, but it makes a wonderful metaphor.


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X God Member Offline Education is a system of imposed ignorance.Chomsky Posts: 571 Joined: 10/04/03	Re: OTB gamesmanship? Reply #3 - 06/05/07 at 10:00:11	Post Tools	Print Post
	Wow, that sounds harder than queen odds. I think a pawn would be a lot easier to mate than a king, especially when your own king is almost immune from all mate threats! Wait, on second thought, I guess capturing the pawn just means you have at least drawn the game. Oh well, that changes things a lot. Doesn't sound very fun for the person giving odds.

	Power to the People!&&http://www.gravel2008.us/ http://www.nationalinitiative.us/&&Mike Gravel for President 2008
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TimS Senior Member Offline Posts: 458 Location: London Joined: 11/02/05	Re: OTB gamesmanship? Reply #2 - 06/05/07 at 09:42:08	Post Tools	Print Post
	As understand it, this was a form of giving odds, not gamesmanship. The pawn was ringed to show mate had to be delivered with it, or with the piece it became after promotion, for the player to win. In other words, if the pawn were captured, the capturing player won no matter that he might be about to be mated with some other pawn or piece


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X God Member Offline Education is a system of imposed ignorance.Chomsky Posts: 571 Joined: 10/04/03	Re: OTB gamesmanship? Reply #1 - 06/05/07 at 02:18:47	Post Tools	Print Post
	You left out the follow-up: When you queen the pawn, you plop the pawn on top of the other guy's head, grab your queen back, slam it down on the queening square, grab the pawn back (either on the guy's head or in mid-air from falling), raise your ring finger (or middle finger for added effect) in front of the guy's face, invert the grabbed pawn so that ring falls perfectly over the raised finger, and shout out "In your face, son!" Of course, this takes speed, precision, and a lot of practice in order to perfect. It may help if you have several clubs in area, as you will probably have trouble returning to a few. No, I have never heard of this gamesmanship. This kind of reminds me of a sketch on Chappelle's Show where street basketball antics are used in bowling and tennis. Cracked me up.

	Power to the People!&&http://www.gravel2008.us/ http://www.nationalinitiative.us/&&Mike Gravel for President 2008
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HgMan God Member Offline Demand me nothing: What you know, you know Posts: 2330 Location: Up on Cripple Creek Joined: 11/09/04 Gender:	OTB gamesmanship? 06/05/07 at 01:22:14	Post Tools	Print Post
	Can anyone tell me where the idea of putting one's ring around a pawn as a means of predicting that that pawn wll queen?

	"Luck favours the prepared mind." --Louis Pasteur
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