Speaking of which...former members of the week can have any title they want. So if you'd like a different one, Wildman, let me know. Same goes for Armis.

Hi Josh,

Thanks for the offer, but I rather like the All-star designation. Often the best gifts are the things you'd never have picked out for yourself!

L8erz...
=wild=

Cool



I think I'll stick to that as well

By the way another interesting interview from chessvideos.tv, I new robo is going to be next! But I actually thought that he is younger, I don't know why, maby because people tend to get interested in chess younger these days. It's great to have him here. That game robofriven mentioned is a superb attacking performance from Tal by the way

Congrats Robo!

It's fun to read these interview. I will have to watch some lessons by Waitzkin also. Well done Robofriven!

Yeah, I'm actually one of the older ones here at 25.

This week's member of the week is.....THEMOFRO!

Here's a copy of the front page post:


themofro is one of ChessVideos.TV's most active posters, with 700+ posts since joining. He's author of the classic Bird's Opening thread, which contains some of the best opening analysis ChessVideos.TV has seen. themofro is also the captain of team ChessVideos.TV in our correspondence match with the Cumnor Chess Club. He has even kept an detailed training journal, which I find especially entertaining due to themofro's inclusion of movie reviews. Thanks for all your contributions to ChessVideos.TV, themofro.

Here's our interview:


How did you get into chess?
My dad taught me how to play chess when I was about 7 years old and I really liked it. We played all the time and eventually I started playing in local tournaments and I won a few and started representing my school so it became one of my major hobbies.

How long have you been playing?
Well I've known how to play for 10 years, but there was about a 5 year period where I quit and switched to playing chinese chess instead. Also in my early years I had no book knowledge. So I've known how to play for about 10 years, but have only been studying the game for a bit over 2 years.

Who is your favorite player of all time?
Tough question as there are so many greats to choose from. For me though it would have to be Alekhine.

Have any chess books had a major influence on your development as a player?
The Immortal Games of Capablanca by Fred Reinfeld, this was my first chess book ever and it introduced me to basically everything. A close second would have to be Irning Chernev's Logical Chess: Move by Move, I got this one on my birthday and I think it really helped my understanding of the game more than anything else.

What is your best chess result?
Well, when I was young (7-10) I won some scholastic tournaments but we were all pretty bad of course. More recently, I took first place in a tournament (the setup was a bit weird, everyone regardless of ratings were grouped together (ranged from like 700-240) and then you draw to see who you play, and whoever has the best score outta your ratings groups win even though you're playing everyone) which I was very happy with. Those are my best tournament results, although I think my best would have to be at the local library chess club there are several 2000+ players who I've beaten (score about 40% against them).

Do you have a favorite chess game?
Bogoljubov vs. Alekhine, Hastings 1922 . Ever since I saw it for the first time this has been my favorite. Last round of a major tournament, Alekhine needs a win so he plays the Dutch, has some nice tactical play early on to equalize, then just totally outplays Bogo. This is the game where Alekhine sacrifices 2 rooks and 3 queens to win an endgame with a pawn up.


Do you have a favorite chess quote?
There are a lot of great ones, but my favorite would probably have to be Nimzovitch's classic "Why must I lose to this idiot?" (said as he stands up on the table)

Bishop or Knight?
Ooh, tough choice. In my early days I always liked the knights best as neither me nor my opponents could see knight forks coming then after I start studying the game I start to greatly prefer the bishops, currently I don't really have a favorite.

How did you find out about CV.TV?
I was searching for some chess videos on youtube and ran across some of yours.

Any other hobbies?
I've played basically every major sport except for baseball at one time or another, but currently my sport would have to be tennis. Although my favorite hobby would probably have to be movies as I'm a huge film buff.

Anything else we should know about you?
Not that I can think of.

That's all for this week's installment. Stay tuned for a new profile next week.

Hey themofro,

I hope you enjoy your well-deserved 10,080 minutes of fame!


Hi Robo,

You can pull up the rocker next to armis and me at the retirement center!


L8erz...
=wild=

Thanks Wildman, make sure to reserve a seat for me there!

Ahh, rocker next to the fire. Makes me feel like the old man I am around here.

And grats Mofro.

Hey themofro,

Consider it done. At the rate we're going, we'll be able to have a tournament there in a few weeks...


Hi Robo,

You're half my age. That should make you feel younger...


L8erz...
=wild=

This week's member of the week is.....CRASH!

Here's the front page post:

This week we're profiling Crash. Although he joined the forums relatively recently, he quickly became one of the most thoughtful and helpful posters on the site. I've always enjoyed his wonderful book reviews which are posted in his equally excellent training journal. The journal is especially great as Crash, who also happens to be one of the stronger players on the site, often posts deep analysis of his recent tournament games as well as thoughts about chess psychology.

Here's our interview...

How did you get into chess?

My father taught me when I was fairly young though I didn't really learn the rules until I was about eight or nine when I learned about the concept of checkmate in the grade school chess club. I didn't really become serious about chess until I was about twelve or thirteen when my uncles visited from Croatia and my dad and they played every day while they were here. This was also right about the time of the Fischer-Spassky 1972 World Championship which I followed closely. I tried out for the high school chess team and made it at fourth board at age 13. Team play dominated my chess experience for many years then and subsequently when I returned to chess in the 1990s.

How long have you been playing?

If we mark it from the time that I first learned all the rules correctly it has been about forty years with several very long breaks of a decade or more in between. Forty three years if you count the time that I played without worrying about getting my king captured.

Who is your favorite player of all time?

If I have to pick just one it would have to be Mikhail Tal.

Have any chess books had a major influence on your development as a player?

"Think Like A Grandmaster" by Kotov which is the book that I return to every few years and which seems to bring excellent benefits each time.

"Tal's Life and Games" which inspired me for many years. Also before this book I read Clarke's book on Tal which made me interested when the larger book authored by Tal himself became available.

"How to Open A Chess Game" with contributions from Larsen, Hort, Petrosian, Botvinnik, Portisch and others.

Vukovich's "Art of Sacrifice in Chess".

The Encyclopedia Britannica articles on chess was the first chess reading that I ever did at the age of about twelve. Its exposition on the history of chess taught me about development and marked a turning point in my play from trying for scholar's mate in every game to developing each piece before I started attacking.

What is your best chess result?

I finished second in the Ontario High School championship which was a big deal to me at that time. The year before I finished fourth with the same score of 5/6.

I have always been more focused on individual games rather than tournaments.

Probably my best objective result the Michigan Master's and Expert's Tournament some time in the early to mid 1990s where I was second and scored 3/4 losing only to a 2599 Ben Finegold and beating a 2490 player. I also had a few tournaments where my results were not great but where I played all higher rated opponents so 2/5 was a good result when I lost to Alexander Ivanov and Boris Kreiman and beat a couple of 2300/2400 rated players.

Do you have a favorite chess game?

Probably my game with Andrews from the 1992 U.S. Open though if it is my favourite it is by only a slight edge over a number of others.

Do you have a favorite chess quote?

Milan Vukadinov's "Remember that Evil never sleeps" is something that I always remember when I am in a winning or losing position.

Bishop or Knight?

Bishop early on but sometimes knight when the position is closed. I will have to start playing the Nimzoindian to root out this tendency. I just had a game yesterday where I gave up a bishop late in the game to eliminate his knight and create a passed pawn which won the game immediately.

How did you find out about CV.TV?

I was involved in a discussion about various chess forums on another site when you (Josh) emailed me and asked me if I had checked out CV.TV. I was at a tournament when I got your email so I didn't have time to do much checking but immediately afterwards I checked it out thoroughly and I have been posting here ever since. I like the fact that there are many thoughtful posters of various strengths who seem to be serious about chess. It is great to be able to talk with like-minded people about the game that we all love.

Any other hobbies?

I enjoy teaching chess to interested youngsters and even adults. My models in this area were Milan Vukadinov and Ray Stone who were friends and teammates and key chess mentors for me.

I was involved in the martial arts (judo followed by karate and aikido) for many years and have been involved in weight training mostly as a result of rehabilitation to deal with a back injury.

I am a voracious reader averaging a couple of hundred books per year with my focus shifting over time. I tend to read mostly non-fiction with chess, poetry, philosophy and psychology dominating lately. Previously I read a lot of business books when I was studying business and later when I taught business finance at the university for a few years in the early 1990s. I also read lots of computer books over the years but have slowed down in this area lately. I read a lot of science fiction when I was much younger.

Anything else we should know about you?

Probably, but its better to keep some of the mystery.

That's all for this week's installment. Stay tuned for a new profile next week.

Hey Crash,

Congratulations! I hope you too enjoy your well-deserved 10,080 minutes of fame!


Hi themofro,

Welcome to Valhalla! There was a management change at the CV.TV Retirement Center this week and conditions are greatly improved. There's still a big fire, but we don't have to sit around in rocking chairs any more! It's sort of like the Beowulf movie only with chess sets and clocks on all the tables in the mead hall... The cute serving girls even like chess players... We haven't seen Grendel since armis beat the stuffing out of him at blitz. Robofriven is upset they won't let his fiancee in, but I'm sure he'll adjust eventually...


L8erz...
=wild=

Wow, I had no idea that the former members of the week inhabited such an elaborate fantasy world.

Actually, there's no real evidence that anyone other than the voices in my head and I live there...