Intersense Modalities 64

When playing black I deploy something like a Najdorf or Dragon variation of the Sicilian defense against white's P-K4. I almost always use the Grunfeld against Queen pawn openings. The King's Indian and Nimzovich are also very interesting to me, but I love the Grunfeld kingside bishop and an early P-QB4 break by black.

With white I always play P-K4 except with people who know me, and I almost never play people who know me. When I vary by playing P-QB4 I do not rely on my Sicilian habits. Instead I like to steer things into a Catalan.

When playing online I generally find it to be more satisfying to play open games, so I rarely get into a complex positional Ruy Lopez, even though the majority of online game room opponents answer P-K4 with E-5.

Too bad. I like playing both sides of the Ruy Lopez, both open and closed. Spassky's Breyer lines particularly interest me.

With my kid we've been exploring the Giuoco Piano.



It can lead to a fun open game like many played by Paul Morphy one hundred and fifty years ago. He did very well defending with the black pieces.

But it also can lead to positional manuevering and modern combinational blow-outs like Tarrasch versus Alekhine 1925. (Click and play.)

Classic. Intense. Like a Mozart piano concerto as realized by Stravinsky. Like Van Gogh realizing Japanese still-lifes. The dark outlines of the background trees are so Vincent. Yet so Nipponese.



Chess is very musical.

I am your nurse today. Do you have any pain?

Though I do not say so out loud, the word-bubble over my head holds "Bush is a fucking drunk and a lying asshole." And I try to reconstitute, in my mind's eye, the web address where the guy set up targets and demonstrated that Cheney lied about accidentally shooting that friend in the face.

Music from Olias of Sunhillow sounds loudly in my dream ears. It repeats.

I retrieve my science books from my locker. I am in the hallway of my highschool. Friends laugh and express wishes to buy a fish license.