Somalia and Temposchlucker, or The Way of War

Another note on Temposchlucker. And, as usual, a bit of prefatory chat and sideways exegesis along the way...

First I need to start with Somalia to make a word about Temposchlucker!

I work with and also serve people from literally all over the world. At my gigantic, intercity store, our customers include a large Asian population, a large Eastern European Population, and in fact a substantial population from north Africa, in particular Somalia, Eritrea, and Ethiopia, but mainly the prior. To those who don' already know it, Africa has huge diversity.














Of course, at the same time we also have our fair share in contrast with demographics from the Microsoft, Starbucks, Amazon, and Boeing Crowd, and this mix between the hard working poor, not so hard working poor, hard working well healed superrich (read stock options grants exercised then diversified into cash), and not so hard working leisure class makes life never dull at my store. Michael Kingsley, founder of Slate Magazine and previous terror of the world across from arch conservative Pat Buchanan, came in one day to flooring, and weeks ago, a towering and sveltely fit Shawn Kemp (he was on World Dream Team 2, in Toronto, then faced Michale Jordan in Seattle's first trip to the NBA finals since 1979) came into tools, and we chatted. I gave him titanium snips to try. Then we of course also have the homeless drug addicts who always come in late, all cracked out, for tubing. You can spot them from 100' away, and not such by dress as a vibe or aura.

Many Somalis come would come into flooring, as they love carpet runners, as this is part of their idea of high civilization. They come in, literally screaming at each other, and I learned in time to cringe from head to toe when I would see them coming, and after 40 minutes of arguing with each other, MIGHT ask you to cut 40' of 26" hallway carpet runner, or just leave after long and protracted screaming in Somali. Sorry, but true.














I also learned that there were other Somalis who were educated, hard working, and who did not yell. I learned that from only 90 miles away, similarly the Eritreans might as well have been from another planet, in embodying civil conduct and discourse, and like them very much, and of course the same can be said of the Ethiopians. For similarly with Iran and Iraq, how can you grow or evolve a civilization for 2 or 3,000 years and not learn some really deep things.

I work with a man from Somalia named Mohamed-Ali, and he is the hardest working, most moral man, with such a beautiful spirit. He never cuts corners, always does the right thing, and even while managing to stop to pray dutifully several times a day, like me, never seems to miss the appropriate recognition of the female being.



















Desperate Housewife Actress Nicollette Sheridan before the big wedding

These educated, civilized Somalis are absolutely incredible people, and I have known several. They speak English and Swahili alike, oftentimes, and sometimes Arabic, of course, if not Italian. They are tough people, too.














At work, I have learned that there are MEN that, no matter what their size or brain, they have a certain something, and it is most rare, but I always feel, that if I ever had to go to war and fight for my life, that I would wish to stake my life with them at my side, knowing day after day what they can do, what they stand for, and their indomitable will to win or do a task--quick, correct, and zealously. And this man is such a one, that I would fight next to a gigantic battle. I have known two or three men like this in five years there.

Now Temposchlucker. He is such a man. If I had to fight a battle, he is such a one that I would stand next to. The other day, I needed five games missing from the VERY shoddy chessGames.com database, both incomplete and inaccurate in many instances both by their data, and the assessments of it's users, and was in the process in DK crazed way,

or what he calls (I asked him what nick name he had for me, in a private conversation about a phantom of a blogger's nickname):

"The Mad Napper" comes close, however it original was "The big napper", but that
doesn't rhyme. :)

was in the process of such a big download, and just HAD to have those games, wrote tempo, and also wrote GM Seirawan, who very promptly wrote IM John Donaldson, on my behalf, saying that "John was the database guy" (cf his much comprehensive and acclaimed comprehensive book on Rubinstein written with Yasser's friend Minev), with its seemed, two sets of emails crisscrossing the Atlantic Ocean at once, all emanating from the very smart back waters of Amsterdam, and, you know what?:















chatting with aids to cognition (NOT Joel Benjamin in background!) with David Navara at Bessel Kok's wedding in Prague.

tempo had the answers in minutes. The final part, I had stopped in waiting on, at Soltis Greatest Chess Games of the 20th Century, game 14, and elected to go grocery shopping, leaving my chessbase9 running, thinking: "you know what, I will stop here, I bet when I get back, game 15 will be waiting for me". And, upon my return, there it was. From temposchlucker.

There was an email back from Yasser, but it was a forward of his reply to Donaldson of his forward to Silman and Yasser of the video of the ten year old lion and his pride taking down a buffalo, when the latter's family comes spectacularly comes romping in. War indeed.

He dug his heals down and found the three games I couldn’t find, and had the first two as I found them in ChessBase. This man truly loves chess. He has huge inner resources. I hope that you all listen to him, not that he needs me to promote him, or needs more readers (he doesn't), but this man loves chess as fish loves water, and I value him greatly.

I have more, but this will do for today.

I am forging ahead in chess study gallantly, and what was my 941 game database now has added the GM-Ram games, and the Soltis games, and not omitting duplicates, it is now 1,663 games. I will be at the end of them, first pass, by 21 February, in time for Seattle spring.

Agenda:

25 GM games per week: is 3 per day most days and 5 per day on weekend days off from work, including tagging game features by category * in a big xls spreadsheet; 4o CTS per day, miminum; 5 Reinfeld per day most days and ten per day on weekends; RHP: analysis of variations on my single correspondence game. Bullet, as time, but more notably energy, allows thereafter. Blogger as I can.

There are two main bloggers who inexplicably refuse to let me have their personal emails, and all I can say, is that they are missing out, and everybody in my circle now has a fresh copy of this database, but how can I send it to you if you don’t trust me enough to let me talk to you offline, but trust me enough to read my stuff on a regular basis?? You reap what you sow.

Let there be rest now.

Thank you to the mighty temposchlucker.

*includes ply, name, result, center, sacrifice, endgame type, promotion, piece play, pawn structure, ECO, opening name, identifying first moves, middlegame character, castles, strategy, etc.