Feb 17, 2016
Took the Howard
train and 97 bus transfer to the Evanston Chess Club tonight. Arrived
early and helped M set up the boards then watched her play through a Candidates game
between Fisher/Larsen 1971, Denver. Half way through the game a man
joined us in analyzing the game, and I admit I was irritated by his
manner and words, one of
those chess know-it-alls, bragging seemingly to build his own self
worth. Does he realize how much a single snapshot in that game
contains? He went on and on, his
words exhibiting not only his arrogance, but also his ignorance. When
G walked in M suggested I play him, but the loudmouth braggart said "no, I'm
playing G". I did not say anything to that, and ended up playing
S. Encountering this kind of ignorance/arrogance is a reason for me
to shun attending club
nights, and sticking to tournaments where people are forced to be
quiet during play.
After playing S a
few games the casual blitz round robin started, I did ok, but ended
up a bit scattered once my clock was below one minute. When I played
the braggart it was
pleasant enough, but he had the awful habit of speaking out my moves
when they caused him surprise. He played a good game and beat me, but he missed some kill
shot moves to put me away sooner. I'd guess he is a grade B player,
which is decent enough, but his attitude is grade F.
Dealing with people
like F isn't too difficult, and although I am complaining about him
in this entry, I realize that his words, just like mine and everyone
else's, are meaningless
clouds which quickly scatter and disappear - mere illusions meant to
deceive with both their beauty and ugliness. The thing I need to keep
in mind is that all words
are deceptions, and although I can form judgments about the state of
someone's mind through his actions and words, when it comes to the final analysis I
know the judgments are inaccurate and the best thing to do is to
always let go of the impressions, as easily as the words themselves
let go of their own
flimsy reality.