Getting the Win

I finally got this win. Phew.

Anyone Who Knows What Love Is

So two of my friends and I have this WhatsApp group called "Songwriting" where we share songwriting tips and discuss why we like certain songs. I thought that my last contribution to this WhatsApp group was worth sharing here.  Enjoy. 

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Hey guys,

So, like, this song, "Anyone Who Knows What Love Is (Will Understand)" from 1964 is my new favorite song at the moment, and I thought I'd just tell you why...like, break the piece down in terms of how I see it as a music lover and songwriter.

So, first off, I like the song because right at the beginning, there's that catchy, twinkling-like little hook with the xylophone. I feel that when writing a song, you really have to catch people at the first moment. This can be done in many different ways, and this twinkly little riff definitely does it.

Then, of course, there's that chorus of people repeating "anyone." I like that, but that's all, I just like it, nothing more. Then comes the singer's voice. In addition to being smoky and full of emotion, I like how she takes the time to enunciate, and I certainly like that her words and her story are so simple.

You can blame me

Try to shame me

And still I'll care for you.

The highlight of the song, though, I think, is the pre-chorus. You really feel a rise, a rise in tension; plus, there is so much emotion in those chords and in the melody. And speaking of the chords themselves, I think they create a poignant mixture of emotion because they are not run-of-the mill. In fact, most of the chords in the pre-chorus are what's known as achromatic, meaning they break key.

So, for example,  the song starts in the key of D major. However, in the pre-chorus, we have our first achromatic chord change with that D minor.  D minor is definitely not in the key of D major, but that's OK because music is all about breaking the rules.  All that being as it is, the pre-chorus has got a lot of chromatic chords—it almost seems to be in an entirely different key, maybe G# minor?—but then, thankfully, when we get to the refrain, "Anyone who knows what love is will understand," we return to our original key, D, and the tension is released.

And speaking of the refrain, we can't underestimate how important it is. Not only is it the title of the song, but it is also such a fantastic release of tension. It's almost like the waters have finally reached the sea, so to speak.

As for the second verse, well, I like that too because it continues on that same theme, "I may act crazy, but I'm in love, and that's what love is, whether you understand it or not."

Finally,  I think I like the song because it speaks to something universal, love—and, that is, I feel, love however you might interpret it.

So that's my take on the song. I thought it would be cool to write this so you guys could see how my mind works when it comes to listening to music and songwriting.

Anna Rudolf

So there's a funny story with this game. Recently, I've been taking an online endgame course. The course was created by Anna Rudolf, a prominent International Master of chess. The funny thing is, though, on chess.com, there is an Anna Rudolf bot that you can play against. The bot supposedly plays at the same strength as Rudolf (2400) and plays moves and openings that she would. 

Well...

I actually beat the Anna Rudolf bot today. I think it was the seventh time I played against "her." All the other times I lost. 

The super ironic thing is—and this is really funny—this game I won against the Anna bot today goes into the endgame, and I actually used some of the techniques that the real Anna taught me in her endgame course. 

The game is below. I've annotated it so you can see what I was thinking every step of the way.

Finally Did It

I was trying to beat this opponent all night...I finally did it. I have the black pieces. My dark-squared bishop was a monster in the end. 

Artist

Yesterday, I was researching something on the New York Times website, and I came across this really interesting article from 1964. 

The article is about an eccentric artist who never really had much success in his life. However, after he died a violent death, a gallery decided to hold an exhibition of his works. 

The guy seemed like a sort of tragic figure, but there was something very intriguing and maybe even beautiful, in one way or another, about the article. 

Nice Win with the Black Pieces

Here is a nice win of mine. I have the black pieces, and I chose to play the King's Indian Defense in response to White's opening move of pawn to d4.  

 Just so you know, in the King's Indian Defense (1. d4, Nf6 2. c4, g6 3. Nc3, Bg7, 4. e4, d6), Black cedes center control of the board to white, at least for the time being, then seeks to undermine white's position in various ways. White, for his part, tries to play on the queenside. However, if White is not careful and/or doesn't generate sharp enough queenside play, Black, if he's skilled enough, will amass his pieces on the kingside, then launch a attack.  

 In the game below, I was able to do just that—amass my pieces on the kingside and ultimately launch an pernicious attack. 

My opponent was rated 2000, which is 200 Elo points below a master. The "Elo" system is the system that's used to calculate  a chess player's strength. Enjoy! *

The Red Wheelbarrow

I'm kinda proud that I was able to teach this poem to a few of my students today. The students were teenagers, and their take on the poem was super interesting. The poem itself, I think, is mystifying. 

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"The Red Wheelbarrow"

By William Carlos Williams  

so much depends

upon

a red wheel

barrow

glazed with rain

water

beside the white

chickens

No Context

The following text was on my desktop. I'm not gonna say why. I'm just gonna post it without any context. Enjoy! 

Titanic is a love story and in it a boy, who is from the lower classes, falls in love with a girl from the higher classes. However, their love affair is cut short by the fact that they are on the Titanic. The boat hits an iceberg and the story ends in tragedy.

Endgame Knowledge

So I've been working hard on my endgame recently, and that can really be seen at the end of this game. Instead of promoting my pawn to a queen, I instead opt for a knight. This means that I will have to mate with a bishop and a knight, which is a heck of a lot harder than mating with a bishop and a queen or even a king and a queen. But I wanted to put some of the endgame knowledge I've acquired to use. The mate was difficult to achieve, but I'm happy I figured it out. My opponent (2000) has the black pieces and she played the Sicilian Defense.