Category Archives: Everything Else

What if? The Chess Comedy Club in Bonn


Bonn, 2008.
The 12 game 2008 World Chess Championship match is between Viswanathan Anand of India, the titleholder, and challenger Vladimir Kramnik of Russia, a former World Champion, who beat Kasparov in a 16 game match 8 years ago.

After two draws at the start, Anand won game 3, and after another draw, won two in a row, and leads, 4 1/2 to 1 1/2. It was referred to as “a major tragedy in the making” by one of the German commentators.

Up to about 15 years ago, these matches were for 24 games. The shorter length makes it more difficult to catch up after losing a few early games. This is because of the high percentage of draws in chess at the grandmaster level.

Vladimir is sounding discouraged, talking about just winning one game, before considering his chances of winning the match.

Tragedy or comedy? That is the question.

The writers here at CrackTeam.org gave it some thought. The tasteless result is below.

Read at your own risk. You have hereby been warned.

      *      *      *

Ladies and Gentlemen: at the Bonn Chess Comedy Club, from the USA, let’s welcome our guest comedian!”

“Hey, it’s great to be here. Thanks for the welcome. Wow! Thanks for the applause. Thank you.”

“Yeah! A great audience! Thank you, thank you!

“All right! Thank you. Thank you!”

“Hey! If you love me before I even open my mouth, how do I know it’s not just PHYSICAL?”

Th-boomp.

“Bonn’s a crazy town. I came in here, thinking that the big match was too SHORT. The way Kramnik feels right now, he’s thinking the match is too LONG!”

Continue reading What if? The Chess Comedy Club in Bonn

The 2008 Anand – Kramnik Times for Game 7

This article lists the times taken for the moves of Game 7 of the Anand – Kramnik World Chess Championship Match in Bonn, 2008.

Game 7, October 23rd, 2008

    Anand         Kramnik
    White         Black
 1. d4   (1:59)   d5     (1:59)
 2. c4   (1:59)   c6     (1:59)
 3. Nf3  (1:59)   Nf6    (1:59)
 4. Nc3  (1:59)   dxc4   (1:59)
 5. a4   (1:58)   Bf5    (1:59)
 6. e3   (1:58)   e6     (1:58)
 7. Bxc4 (1:58)   Bb4    (1:58)
 8. O-O  (1:58)   Nbd7   (1:58)
 9. Qe2  (1:57)   Bg6    (1:57)
10. e4   (1:57)   O-O    (1:56)
11. Bd3  (1:57)   Bh5    (1:55)
12. e5   (1:56)   Nd5    (1:54)
13. Nxd5 (1:55)   cxd5   (1:54)
14. Qe3  (1:55)   Re8    (1:54d)
15. Ne1  (1:49)   Bg6    (1:51d)
16. Bxg6 (1:47)   hxg6   (1:45d)
17. Nd3  (1:46d)  Qb6    (1:39d)

Continue reading The 2008 Anand – Kramnik Times for Game 7

Hogwarts Schoolgirls

I was flipping through the OC Weekly “best of” issue and couldn’t help but notice the various Halloween costume ads. One that immediately jumped out at me was a rather modernized Hogwarts schoolgirl uniform. If only Dumbledore weren’t gay Hermione Granger would be walking around looking like this:

Hogwarts Schoolgirl Uniform

I really hope this will be a popular costume at the Halloween party I’ll be attending. And if you’re thinking, “That’s all wrong! There’s certainly not a star at the end of their wands!” then I’ve got a guy named Albus I’d like to introduce you to.

The 2008 Anand – Kramnik Times for Game 6

This article lists the times taken for the moves of Game 6 of the 2008 match between Anand and Kramnik for the World Chess Championship.

Game 6, October 21, 2008

    Anand          Kramnik
    White          Black
 1. d4    (1:59)   Nf6   (1:59)
 2. c4    (1:59)   e6    (1:59)
 3. Nc3   (1:59)   Bb4   (1:59)
 4. Qc2   (1:59)   d5    (1:59)
 5. cxd5  (1:59)   Qxd5  (1:58)
 6. Nf3   (1:58)   Qf5   (1:58)
 7. Qb3   (1:57)   Nc6   (1:58d)
 8. Bd2   (1:56)   O-O   (1:54)
 9. h3    (1:55)   b6    (1:47d)
10. g4    (1:45)   Qa5   (1:45d)
11. Rc1   (1:28)   Bb7   (1:41d)
12. a3    (1:15)   Bxc3  (1:40)

Continue reading The 2008 Anand – Kramnik Times for Game 6

The 2008 Anand – Kramnik Times for Game 5

This article lists the times taken by Anand and Kramnik for the moves of the 5th game of their 2008 World Chess Championship Match in Bonn, Germany.

Game 5, October 20th, 2008

    Kramnik         Anand
    White           Black
 1. d4    (1:59)    d5    (1:59)
 2. c4    (1:59)    c6    (1:59)
 3. Nf3   (1:59)    Nf6   (1:59)
 4. Nc3   (1:59)    e6    (1:59)
 5. e3    (1:59)    Nbd7  (1:59)
 6. Bd3   (1:59)    dxc4  (1:59)
 7. Bxc4  (1:59)    b5    (1:59)
 8. Bd3   (1:59)    a6    (1:59)
 9. e4    (1:58)    c5    (1:58)
10. e5    (1:58)    cxd4  (1:58)
11. Nxb5  (1:58)    axb5  (1:58)
12. exf6  (1:58)    gxf6  (1:58)
13. O-O   (1:58)    Qb6   (1:58)
14. Qe2   (1:58)    Bb7   (1:58)
15. Bxb5  (1:57)    Rg8   (1:58)
16. Bf4   (1:56d)   Bd6   (1:57)
17. Bg3   (1:43d)   f5    (1:53)
18. Rfc1  (0:59d)   f4    (1:43)

Continue reading The 2008 Anand – Kramnik Times for Game 5

The 1972 Fischer – Spassky Times for Game 8

This article lists the times taken by each player for the moves of game 8 of the 1972 Fischer Spassky World Chess Championship Match in Reykjavik, Iceland.

Click here for info on other games of this match.

Game 8, July 27, 1972

    Fischer       Spassky
    White         Black
    (ar)  (0:10)
 1. c4    (0:10)  c5    (0:01)
 2. Nc3   (0:11)  Nc6   (0:02)
 3. Nf3   (0:13)  Nf6   (0:13)
 4. g3    (0:15)  g6    (0:14)
 5. Bg2   (0:16)  Bg7   (0:14)
 6. 0-0   (0:16)  0-0   (0:14)
 7. d4    (0:16)  cxd4  (0:14)
 8. Nxd4  (0:16)  Nxd4  (0:14)
 9. Qxd4  (0:17)  d6    (0:16)
10. Bg5   (0:25)  Be6   (0:24)
11. Qf4   (0:25)  Qa5   (1:23)

Continue reading The 1972 Fischer – Spassky Times for Game 8

The 2008 Anand – Kramnik Times for Game 4

This article lists the times taken by Anand and Kramnik for the moves of the 4th game of their 2008 World Chess Championship Match in Bonn, Germany.

Game 4, October 18th, 2008

    Anand         Kramnik
    White         Black
    (ar)  (1:59)
 1. d4    (1:59)  Nf6   (1:59)
 2. c4    (1:58)  e6    (1:59)
 3. Nf3   (1:58)  d5    (1:59)
 4. Nc3   (1:58)  Be7   (1:59)
 5. Bf4   (1:58)  0-0   (1:58)
 6. e3    (1:57)  Nbd7  (1:58)
 7. a3    (1:55)  c5    (1:57)
 8. cxd5  (1:55)  Nxd5  (1:57)
 9. Nxd5  (1:54)  exd5  (1:57)
10. dxc5  (1:54)  Nxc5  (1:57)
11. Be5   (1:54)  Bf5   (1:49)
12. Be2   (1:49)  Bf6   (1:48)
13. Bxf6  (1:33)  Qxf6  (1:47)
14. Nd4   (1:27)  Ne6   (1:44)

Continue reading The 2008 Anand – Kramnik Times for Game 4

The 2008 Anand – Kramnik Times for Game 3

This article lists the times taken for the moves of Game 3 of the 2008 Viswanathan Anand – Vladimir Kramnik World Chess Championship Match in Bonn, Germany.

Game 3, October 17th, 2008


    Kramnik        Anand
    White          Black
 1. d4   (1:59)    d5   (1:59)
 2. c4   (1:59)    c6   (1:59)
 3. Nf3  (1:59)    Nf6  (1:59)
 4. Nc3  (1:59)    e6   (1:59)
 5. e3   (1:58)    Nbd7 (1:58)
 6. Bd3  (1:58)    dxc4 (1:58)
 7. Bxc4 (1:58)    b5   (1:58)
 8. Bd3  (1:58)    a6   (1:58)
 9. e4   (1:57)    c5   (1:58)
10. e5   (1:57)    cxd4 (1:57)
11. Nxb5 (1:57)    axb5 (1:57)
12. exf6 (1:57)    gxf6 (1:57)
13. O-O  (1:56)    Qb6  (1:57)
14. Qe2  (1:56)    Bb7  (1:57)
15. Bxb5 (1:45)    Bd6  (1:56)
16. Rd1  (1:22)    Rg8  (1:51)

Continue reading The 2008 Anand – Kramnik Times for Game 3

The 1972 Fischer – Spassky Times for Game 7

This article lists the times taken in Game 7 by Fischer and Spassky.
Click here for info on other games of this match.

Game 7, July 25th, 1972

Spassky       Fischer
White         Black
1. e4    (0:00)  (ar)  (0:05)
1. ...           c5    (0:06)
2. Nf3   (0:01)  d6    (0:06)
3. d4    (0:01)  cxd4  (0:06)
4. Nxd4  (0:01)  Nf6   (0:06)
5. Nc3   (0:02)  a6    (0:06)
6. Bg5   (0:04)  e6    (0:06)
7. f4    (0:05)  Qb6   (0:07)
8. Qd2   (0:07)  Qxb2  (0:07)
9. Nb3   (0:08)  Qa3   (0:10)
10. Bd3   (0:12)  Be7   (0:19)
11. 0-0   (0:20)  h6    (0:28)
12. Bh4   (0:55)  Nxe4  (0:37)

Continue reading The 1972 Fischer – Spassky Times for Game 7

The 1972 Fischer – Spassky Times for Game 5

This article lists the times taken by Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky for their moves in Game 5 of their World Championship Chess Match in Reykjavik, Iceland, in 1972.

Game 5, July 20th, 1972

    Spassky        Fischer
    White          Black
 1. d4             Nf6
 2. c4             e6
 3. Nc3            Bb4
 4. Nf3            c5
 5. e3    (0:02)   Nc6   (0:07)
 6. Bd3   (0:04)   Bxc3+ (0:07)
 7. bxc3  (0:04)   d6    (0:07)
 8. e4    (0:09)   e5    (0:07)
 9. d5    (0:17)   Ne7   (0:09)
10. Nh4   (0:20)   h6    (0:16)
11. f4    (0:40)   Ng6   (0:27)
12. Nxg6  (0:55)   fxg6  (0:28)

Continue reading The 1972 Fischer – Spassky Times for Game 5