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Dark Knight / Le Chevalier Noir
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Very interesting topic. I always face my knights to the left, the same as if looking at a chess diagram.
And I agree with people who say that adjusting an opponent's knights is rude. If someone adjusted my knights, I would adjust them right back, and then adjust his! :D
No matter how big and bad you are, when a two-year-old hands you a toy phone, you answer it.
A good friend has pointed out that in the latest New In Chess (2013 #1) the interview with Malcolm Pein has this exchange:
Do you have any superstitions concerning chess?
MP - I like to point my knights at the opponent’s king. Wishful thinking.
******
I hadn't thought about superstitions in chess. I suppose one common one would be during a winning streak to not shave or change one's socks. This is common in hockey, I believe. Never having had a long winning streak, I wouldn't know.
Checking up on the superstition angle I found these:
Chess players are very superstitious people! Almost every strong player I know has his own superstition. By far the most common one is a "lucky" pen or pencil. Even Mikhail Tal (who had the nickname "the Magician") half jokingly blamed the loss of his World Champion title on the loss of his lucky pen. He said that he forgot it just for a couple of minutes on the table but when he remembered and returned back it was already gone (probably taken by one of Tal’s numerous fans as a souvenir). Personally I had dozens of "lucky" pens throughout my chess career and when one of them stopped working (meaning I lost a game), I always had another one!
Another popular chess superstition has probably something to do with the Biblical story of Samson and Delilah. Many chess players seem to avoid cutting their hair during important tournaments. Anatoly Karpov joked once that one of the most difficult things during his first World Championship match vs. Gary Kasparov in 1984 was to wait for 5 months (that's how long the match lasted) before he got his haircut!
Evgeny Alekseev: Sometimes I try to write with a lucky pen at tournaments. So you take a pen, if you have success in tournaments you continue to use it, if not you change it. Everything goes well here for the time being so I don't change the pen.
Vladimir Akopian: Chess players are apt to superstitions. Many of them are attentive to the clothes. If they lose they put these clothes away. If the game is successful they go on playing the tournament in the same clothes. Some care about the pen. If the tournament is successful with one pen they write with it, if not they change it. I also care about clothes and pens. This tournament was not successful for me at the beginning, so I put away the suit I played in. Now I'm playing in other clothes. And it works for the time being.
Alexander Grischuk: I don't shave on playing days, either before or after games. I always wait for the day off.
Gata Kamsky: The situation with omens and superstition in chess is as difficult as in other sports. For example: I haven't put on my tie today. The pen is of great importance. One more omen is that one mustn't change his dinner table and also should keep one regime and repeat everything thoroughly.
An interesting and related subject is the question of "touch move" violations depending on the orientation of the Knight. I am thinking, of course, of the infamous violation by then World Champion Gary Kasparov in which Judit Polgar, worried about being the "newbie" at Linares, didn't complain about Kasparov's violation and then had lousy results for the rest of the tourney. See the Wikipedia entry on Judit Polgar for a brief introduction of the subject. I am sure that a quick search would probably yield an actual video of Kasparov's rule violation. But I digress.
Here's the question: does one orientation or another lend itself to touch move violations? I say yes. If the Knight is oriented sideways (either left OR right), then a player can move their fingers in front of and behind the knight and their opponent cannot tell, without looking at things from an angle to the side, whether the player about to move has touched the Knight. Whereas, a Knight facing forward can be properly picked up with fingers to the side of the piece - i.e., where they can be seen by the opponent.
Darn, I must have a lot of free time on my hands. lol.
Dogs will bark, but the caravan of chess moves on.
Carlsen on Some Superstitions During the Match Against Anand
Thursday, 26.12.2013
Magnus Carlsen was interviewed by Norwegian TV-Channel VGTV, he talked of some superstitions during his match against Vishy Anand.
"There weren't a lot of superstitions," the world champion smiled. "For instance, my play during first two games wasn't any great, so I threw away the pen I used to write down the moves. I got another pen and things went better. I don't think that is in direct connection, but it definitely influenced my mood.
Or another example, I was asked to sign the book about Botvinnik - Tal match of 1960. The 23-year-old Tal won the match but a year later he lost the title and never got it back. I had to disappoint the fan leaving without my signature, but signing the book at the time when I was fighting for the title would be the same as if I have signed the death warrant for myself.
Maybe I look too superstitious, but most of chess players are such."
Take a pen or similar implement and hold with a relaxed hand it in front of you between the tip of your thumb and index and middle finger(if this finger is too tired a two-finger approach may be used). Notice the pen has an angle. You should , from now on,( specially if you play blitz chess)hold your knight to this angle.
This is the most efficient way to hold your knight. Do no try this if your knights hold unsheathed swords.
Thank you
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