Stubborn old men.

Submitted by scounged on Mon, 02/25/2008 at 8:31am.

Yesterday I played a chess game against an old man. At move 70 or so, I had a king, bishop and a pawn against a king, rook and a pawn. The position was clearly drawn, but the old geezer refused to accept my draw offers. We played for five long hours, and everyone observed our game at the end. Finally, I made a blunder and the old man won the game undisserved. Afterwards, I said something like:
"I shouldn't have played the extremely stupid move Bd8??, which looses immediately. If I had just played Kc1, it would have been an easy draw. Then the old man said: "Well, I don't know. If I had been able to drive your king to the edge, and saccrificed my rook for your bishop, I could probably win with my a-pawn." I just stared at him, and everyone said:

"But you can never drive the king away and then win with your pawn. It's easy to see it's a draw." But the old man was stubborn and didn't seem to get it, though I believe that deep inside he knew it was a draw. This behaviour I have seen before, old men playing youths in a clearly lost or drawn position and refuse to resign or draw. It's totally unacceptable to me. Why are they so stubborn? Is it because they're playing against younger players, and think they don't have the experience to see easy traps? If you're one of these horrible individuals, then I beg you to stop doing it. Be a good sportsman and accept your loss.

By the way, here's the position I blundered:

If you can't see it's a draw, you're not a good chessplayer yet.

» posted in scounged's Blog

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Comments:

by LittleTom - 3 months ago
United States

Member Since: Mar 2008
Member Points: 235

Your story reminds me of the movie "The Hustler" in which Paul Newman is way ahead of Jackie Gleason in a pool contest, but Jackie Gleason refuses to give up, because he correctly assesses Paul Newman's character as likely to crack. See the movie, and learn from it.

by BruiserMac - 7 months ago
Orange Walk Belize

Member Since: Nov 2007
Member Points: 90

Dr. Tartakower a famous Grand Master said that he never won a game by resigning. A player can play on as long as he, or she, likes until checkmate.

by claypot - 7 months ago
California United States

Member Since: Feb 2008
Member Points: 1678

A couple of things...

First, I'm not an "old geezer" but I am old enough to know that my generation is passing on the same crap (sorry, but I really don't have another word for this) of "respect me because I'm older than you," with a bit (?) of "you can't be smarter than me because I'm older than you." On behalf of my generation, I would like to personally ask for your forgiveness for this behavior.

Second, I would like to recommend something to you... (It's your decision to accept or reject.) Have a bit of compassion for the "geezers" that behave like the man you played. Remember, he's just a human (like you and me), with faults and failures (like you and me), and maybe realizing that he, coming to the end years of his life, hasn't really accomplished much with his life. You, on the other hand, appear to potentially have many years that can be very productive and fruitful. So, rather than spending those years in bitterness, try to see a bigger picture: people are people, and you (and I) will be treated as you (and I) treat others. In other words, if you don't want some "young whipper-snapper" treating you as an "old geezer" when you're in your 70s, it might be wise to not be that "young whipper snapper" yourself.

Again, just advice from someone who has learned the hard way.

Oh, and I agree...Black can easily sacrifice his rook for the white bishop and pawn, but, if white plays it right, there is no way that black will promote his remaining pawn, resulting in a draw.

Much success and peace to you.

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