Non-chess alert: Chess readers ignore this rant
I hate Microsoft.
I hate them with the passion that fills Hell itself.
Okay. . .I don't hate everyone at Microsoft. . .I just loathe those people who are responsible for Vista.
Easily the worst operating system in the history of the world, Microsoft went over the edge this time. I have had put up with their insufferable arrogance, the lack of support, their sloppy coding. . .but having to put up with this abomination is beyond the pale.
I hope every person who is responsible for Vista has to go to prison, is violently sexually assaulted multiple times each day and is forced to eat rabbit pellets for meals.
I will say the one bright spot in all this is the terribly funny Apple ads on television making fun of Microsoft. They're beyond hysterical. . .and spot on.
Vista. . .Microsoft's monument to stupidity. Take a bow Bill. . .but don't bend over for the soap. . .
J'adoube's California Adventure ending
. . .and a nightmare this place is. . .
Goodbye smog.
Goodbye jammed freeways.
I'm going home. I've had it. I can't stand it anymore. This place is insane. Thank God I'm not going to have to be here anymore.
Goodbye California Crazies.
Adios Los Angeles. Good riddance.
Return to Market Street
The sights, sounds, smells. . .they're all the same. Trolleys clang by, alerting would-be passengers, honking horns, impatient cabbies cutting off unsuspecting drivers.
It's Fifth and Market Street in downtown San Francisco on a brisk, sunny Sunday afternoon.
And I have returned.
Dressed in layers of unclean hooded sweatshirts, homeless men hunched over chess boards furtively move pieces in search of a prize - money from the casual passerby who falls into their net.
I look over several of the boards, searching for familiar faces. To my right stands an older homeless man. I remember him. He's Slavic looking and sounding. I remember he was a decent player. I look at a Hispanic player. He looks familiar, but I can't determine if he was the same person I played two years ago on this very street. I wonder if he is even still alive.
Several tables open up. A youngish black man calls my way. "You got time for a game?"
Sure, I respond. I sit down to the table. The white pieces in front of me show the grime of the city on them. They aren't really white anymore. Discolored from exposure, they are yellowed. I wonder how many people have played with these pieces. Perhaps hundreds.
As I am sitting down, my opponent queries me. "You know the rules?". Yes, I reply, I think I understand the game. "No, the rules here," he responds. No, I say. "You lose, you pay 50 cents a game." I agree to the terms.
I move. D4. My opponent picks up my pawn. He grabs a Black pawn, shuffles under the table. I look on, puzzled. If I lose, I have to pay. Surely I should at least get the white pieces.
Not here. These are street rules. Okay. I can play street rules. I point to his right hand. The black pawn rolls out of his hand.
We reset the pieces. My opponent plays 1. e4. Inside, I am smiling. There are rules I learned on the streets long ago. Never let anyone know what you are thinking. Or feeling. Become an enigma.
1. . .e6. I love the French. 2. d4 d5 3. e5.
The French Advance. It's going to be a fun game. I just recently went back over the French lines with Chess Position Trainer on the flight to San Francisco from L.A. 3. . .c5.
My opponent hesitates. He seems slightly puzzled. He starts to take my c5 pawn. He withdraws his hand. 4. c3 Nc6. 5. Bb5.
OMG. He going to fall for that old trap? Pedrag taught me this years ago. Is this guy setting some street ploy to nuke me? I don't care. I play what I know. 5. . .Bd7. He starts to take my knight. He hesitates again. What is he planning? Am I going to look foolish out here in front of everyone.
Not to worry. He plays into the trap. He goes a pawn down. His position deteriorates. I go up another pawn. And then another. I trap his knight that he played too far forward. 15 moves into the game he resigns. He points to my 3 pawns - "Too much. I couldn't win."
I am ecstatic. These guys play all day. This is how they survive. If they don't win, they don't eat. And I just beat one of them. I get up and reach into my pocket. I pull out a 5 dollars and hand it over. I enjoyed the game, I tell him. Even though I won, it and I don't have to pay, I want to. What's your name, I ask him. "Charles," he responds. I introduce myself as the Vice President of the Oklahoma Chess Association. He looks at me. He knows he's been set up. Charles, I tell him, I write a chess blog. People are going to read about you.
A couple of things I figure out from playing and watching the games on the street. These guys don't play mates. They specialize in going up a few pawns and then overwhelming their opponent with multiple Queens.
Two years ago I came out here and did okay, but not as well as this. I feel better about my game. Even if he wasn't the best street hustler out here, I still won.
It's good to be back on Market Street. It's good to be back in the game.
California Dreamin'
At last, J'adoube the Off-Center Knight makes sweeping entrance back into the blogosphere. . .fresh from California meatspace. . .
Alas, I have to say that J'adoube's California Adventure isn't over. It appears I'll be trekking back and forth from Middle America to the Inland Empire after my Torrance/Redondo Beach gig is up. . .or possibly up further north of Burbank.
The travel aside, Southern California winters are a heck of lot easier to endure than the central plains where I live. The wildfires are relatively common in Oklahoma, so the SoCal wildfires aren't much of an adjustment.
The real disappointment has been the chess community out here. Aside from Lawndale and Santa Monica, I can't find any real chess clubs local. And they have to be local - driving here is insane. I'd rather stick needles in my eyes than get on the 405 after work. Driving to Santa Monica wouldn't be too harsh if I went up the PCH, but it's just too much hassle. I can't see how these people stand it here. I work with folks who only live 35 miles away and it takes 1.5 hours to get to work. It's just nuts.
Next week is the uber-geekfest - JavaOne, and J'adoube and J'adoubette will spirit themselves away this Friday to San Francisco for a week of overdose on technology- at least J'adoube will. J'adoubette will once again enrich the merchants of Chinatown spending the hard won earnings J'adoube has earned from some very demanding clients. . .
I still play online but clearly my game has suffered. Not so much for tactics but openings. . .
I read the blogs when I can but it looks like the neighborhood has changed some. So, has anybody made GM yet?
L8r. . .
Watch this space
Watch this space for an update soon. . .
