Wednesday, June 30
Deviously Deviant
Recently JX was asking me for nice wallpapers to share. So here's awesome wallpaper by a Japanese talent. Breathtaking and very mood. I like :)
The Lambretta
It was 1992, that I went from inspiration to mastery of the Rainbow, and I have been having fun ever since. No one knew what to call such a trick back then.
People felt it was awesome to see it in actual games. My best friends insist it was I who introduced the Rainbow around the country! I dunno about that, but surely it is after much of my demonstrating and executing of the move that I see some people start using it.
The only thing that I am definitely proud of is that I had no one taught me or demonstrated the move to me. I just stayed behind in school one particular evening, and kept thinking about a trick that would enable me to get the ball past a player or the keeper, and opens up the option of an off the ground volley for which I have a natural penchant.
My soccer mate laughed at my wasting of time, and after ridiculing me, left me alone for home. I ended my six hour training by midnight and went home totally tired with cramps but relieved that my desired special move was taking shape.
It is a very rarely seen trick, being even more rarely executed in an actual game. In the years before there was the internet, only those who had seen it executed it in person, marvelled at the possibility and attractiveness of it. Now with the world accessible through the internet, tricks like the rainbow kick, the Rabona, and hundreds of other skills are readily available to those who seek them.
As a note of memorandum, the Rainbow is not the same as the Rai's Flick. The Rainbow kick is also called the Lambretta trick, Arco Iris (in Spain), or the Ardiles Flick.
ehow.com describes "Although not necessarily a practical move during a game, the rainbow is a fancy way to begin juggling. It's a move sure to impress your friends."
I agree more with wikihow.com's "The Rainbow is an offensive tool that, while being very impressive, can also put the defender on your back while you keep running."
Wikipedia writes: The trick is an impressive show of skill, sometimes seen in street soccer. It is rarely used in modern professional football, as it has a relatively low success rate, but players with high confidence and skill may attempt it from time to time. Brazilian players such as Pelé and Djalminha are among those who have used this trick. The rainbow kick was performed at the 2002 FIFA World Cup when Turkey's İlhan Mansız, in what was described as a "sombrero" move of "outrageous skill", flicked the ball over both his head and the head of Brazil's world-class side-back Roberto Carlos, forcing Carlos into a foul.
Of course some people may discourage you from doing tricks in a game; usually those who are more used to the push and run type of gameplay, or those who dunno how to do one themselves! LOL. There are also those that focus on other factors like team spirit, team movement and tactical battle which in my opinion are vital to winning a match.
A final note though, if no one had told you yet... being able to pull-off a trick and out-manouvre your opponent is one of the best feeling in the world. Experienced and Guaranteed.
People felt it was awesome to see it in actual games. My best friends insist it was I who introduced the Rainbow around the country! I dunno about that, but surely it is after much of my demonstrating and executing of the move that I see some people start using it.
The only thing that I am definitely proud of is that I had no one taught me or demonstrated the move to me. I just stayed behind in school one particular evening, and kept thinking about a trick that would enable me to get the ball past a player or the keeper, and opens up the option of an off the ground volley for which I have a natural penchant.
My soccer mate laughed at my wasting of time, and after ridiculing me, left me alone for home. I ended my six hour training by midnight and went home totally tired with cramps but relieved that my desired special move was taking shape.
It is a very rarely seen trick, being even more rarely executed in an actual game. In the years before there was the internet, only those who had seen it executed it in person, marvelled at the possibility and attractiveness of it. Now with the world accessible through the internet, tricks like the rainbow kick, the Rabona, and hundreds of other skills are readily available to those who seek them.
As a note of memorandum, the Rainbow is not the same as the Rai's Flick. The Rainbow kick is also called the Lambretta trick, Arco Iris (in Spain), or the Ardiles Flick.
ehow.com describes "Although not necessarily a practical move during a game, the rainbow is a fancy way to begin juggling. It's a move sure to impress your friends."
I agree more with wikihow.com's "The Rainbow is an offensive tool that, while being very impressive, can also put the defender on your back while you keep running."
Wikipedia writes: The trick is an impressive show of skill, sometimes seen in street soccer. It is rarely used in modern professional football, as it has a relatively low success rate, but players with high confidence and skill may attempt it from time to time. Brazilian players such as Pelé and Djalminha are among those who have used this trick. The rainbow kick was performed at the 2002 FIFA World Cup when Turkey's İlhan Mansız, in what was described as a "sombrero" move of "outrageous skill", flicked the ball over both his head and the head of Brazil's world-class side-back Roberto Carlos, forcing Carlos into a foul.Of course some people may discourage you from doing tricks in a game; usually those who are more used to the push and run type of gameplay, or those who dunno how to do one themselves! LOL. There are also those that focus on other factors like team spirit, team movement and tactical battle which in my opinion are vital to winning a match.
A final note though, if no one had told you yet... being able to pull-off a trick and out-manouvre your opponent is one of the best feeling in the world. Experienced and Guaranteed.
Tuesday, June 29
Pins Perpetual
There is nothing to boast of in winning this game, because it is one which black lost only because he made mistakes. The interesting thing here is the theme of pins. The multiple pin situations posed to black, nagged him and led his game to complications and damaging tension on the queenside. After he fought well to handle and break the pins, a momentary loss of focus led to two wrong moves that gave the game.
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Monday, June 28
World Wars
Today saw two highly sensational World Cup matches in the round of 16 .
The first saw Germany overwhelming England with a 4-1 victory. ALL four German goals were superbly executed and built up. Ozil seems to be of a influential component in the German clockwork. A particular controversy happened when Germany was leading 2-1 Frank Lampard had a stunning shot hitting the woodwork, with the ball bouncing down from the crossbar before bouncing up into the hands of Neuer the German keeper, who quickly played the ball on. Slow replay showed that the goal should have been counted! I have little doubt that sore losers would harp on this point by saying things like 'the referee was kayu/stupid', 'if that goal had been counted, as it should have been, England could have played better from then on, and...' etc etc.
In fact I just had a young England fan lamenting online, before he goes to school, saying: "see england tio trash no mood liao lols. if england 2nd goal were to be given i believe they could win the game lorh". I am quite sure many fans will take up this stance... unfortunately. Someone else just changed her msn nick to "England gave me so much pain, but I still support it till my life is over!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Hmmm... I remember someone mentioned that stupidity is incurable... I just hope it's not contagious.
The significance of this incident is not in that the sore losers (I mean the fans or media) will use this to explain away their (perennial) poor performance; but in the history of world cup, something quite similar between the two countries happened... back in the final of 1966 when Germany lost to England 2-4. Geoff Hurst made it 3-2 in the extra time with a similar shot off the crossbar, but later video evidence proved that goal was erroneously counted as it never crossed the line. The linesman had made the wrong judgement that the ball had bounced back down from the net at the top of the goal. The difference is England won that match and tournament, and Germany won this match and will advance in this tournament.
Raymond was doing a lot of live commentry sitting beside me at Bradell Heights CC and he watched the game with an observance as sharp as a scorpion's sting. In just a little while into the first half, he declared that the Germans can exploit England's backline's weakness in handling high through passes.
In my personal opinion, Germany really does show pedigree in their playing. However, they would not win the world cup as well. That's just my prediction.
The second match was between Argentina and Mexico. In this game, which I will alway$ remember...
Tevez scored the opening goal thru a direct shot on goal by Messi, and then later shot super hard from just outside the box to make it 2-0. This is one of the strongest direct shot in the tournament thus far.
To be fair to Mexico, they had many quality chances at scoring, and the final results of 1-3 hid a lot of their lively attacking especially in the beginning of the match.
One thing I must comment though, Lionel Messi had yet to impressed me. He's nowhere near the likes of Ronaldo 9, or Roberto Baggio.
In the end, the iconic Maradona is triumphant again. A strange ah pek as he might be, his formation and tactics had been working very well. Nevertheless, in my opinion, Argentina will not win this World Cup as well.
The first saw Germany overwhelming England with a 4-1 victory. ALL four German goals were superbly executed and built up. Ozil seems to be of a influential component in the German clockwork. A particular controversy happened when Germany was leading 2-1 Frank Lampard had a stunning shot hitting the woodwork, with the ball bouncing down from the crossbar before bouncing up into the hands of Neuer the German keeper, who quickly played the ball on. Slow replay showed that the goal should have been counted! I have little doubt that sore losers would harp on this point by saying things like 'the referee was kayu/stupid', 'if that goal had been counted, as it should have been, England could have played better from then on, and...' etc etc.
In fact I just had a young England fan lamenting online, before he goes to school, saying: "see england tio trash no mood liao lols. if england 2nd goal were to be given i believe they could win the game lorh". I am quite sure many fans will take up this stance... unfortunately. Someone else just changed her msn nick to "England gave me so much pain, but I still support it till my life is over!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Hmmm... I remember someone mentioned that stupidity is incurable... I just hope it's not contagious.
The significance of this incident is not in that the sore losers (I mean the fans or media) will use this to explain away their (perennial) poor performance; but in the history of world cup, something quite similar between the two countries happened... back in the final of 1966 when Germany lost to England 2-4. Geoff Hurst made it 3-2 in the extra time with a similar shot off the crossbar, but later video evidence proved that goal was erroneously counted as it never crossed the line. The linesman had made the wrong judgement that the ball had bounced back down from the net at the top of the goal. The difference is England won that match and tournament, and Germany won this match and will advance in this tournament.
Raymond was doing a lot of live commentry sitting beside me at Bradell Heights CC and he watched the game with an observance as sharp as a scorpion's sting. In just a little while into the first half, he declared that the Germans can exploit England's backline's weakness in handling high through passes.
In my personal opinion, Germany really does show pedigree in their playing. However, they would not win the world cup as well. That's just my prediction.
The second match was between Argentina and Mexico. In this game, which I will alway$ remember...
Tevez scored the opening goal thru a direct shot on goal by Messi, and then later shot super hard from just outside the box to make it 2-0. This is one of the strongest direct shot in the tournament thus far.To be fair to Mexico, they had many quality chances at scoring, and the final results of 1-3 hid a lot of their lively attacking especially in the beginning of the match.
One thing I must comment though, Lionel Messi had yet to impressed me. He's nowhere near the likes of Ronaldo 9, or Roberto Baggio.
In the end, the iconic Maradona is triumphant again. A strange ah pek as he might be, his formation and tactics had been working very well. Nevertheless, in my opinion, Argentina will not win this World Cup as well.
Monday, June 14
Victorious Vengence
Today, something delightful happened, something as rare as a ten percent chance, as Vynesh puts it. I lost tempo from beating around the bush with the centre control. And soon black gains vast space and speedy developments. Like what the great Bobby Fischer said, or was it someone else, good tactics flow from good positions.
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Wednesday, June 9
Wavin' Flag
ZW is loving this song at the moment. I personally find the lyrics of the original version meaninful, the catchy melody praise worthy for its exuberant and catchy melody!
This is the Coca Cola anthem for the world's biggest sports event of the year.
When i get older, they'll call me freedom
Just like a Waving Flag.
[Chorus]
When I get older, I will be stronger,
They'll call me freedom, just like a Waving Flag,
And then it goes back, and then it goes back,
And then it goes back
Born to a throne, stronger than Rome
but Violent prone, poor people zone,
But it's my home, all I have known,
Where I got grown, streets we would roam.
But out of the darkness, I came the farthest,
Among the hardest survival.
Learn from these streets, it can be bleak,
Except no defeat, surrender retreat,
So we struggling, fighting to eat and
We wondering when we'll be free,
So we patiently wait, for that fateful day,
It's not far away, so for now we say
[Chorus]
So many wars, settling scores,
Bringing us promises, leaving us poor,
I heard them say, love is the way,
Love is the answer, that's what they say,
But look how they treat us, Make us believers,
We fight their battles, then they deceive us,
Try to control us, they couldn't hold us,
Cause we just move forward like Buffalo Soldiers.
But we struggling, fighting to eat,
And we wondering, when we'll be free
So we patiently wait, for that faithful day,
It's not far away, but for now we say,
[Chorus] 2x
(Ohhhh Ohhhh Ohhhhh Ohhhh)
And everybody will be singing it
(Ohhhh Ohhhh Ohhhhh Ohhhh)
And you and I will be singing it
(Ohhhh Ohhhh Ohhhhh Ohhhh)
And we all will be singing it
(Ohhh Ohh Ohh Ohh)
[Chorus] 2x
When I get older, when I get older
I will be stronger, just like a Waving Flag,
Just like a Waving Flag, just like a Waving flag
Flag, flag, Just like a Waving Flag
This is the Coca Cola anthem for the world's biggest sports event of the year.
When i get older, they'll call me freedom
Just like a Waving Flag.
[Chorus]
When I get older, I will be stronger,
They'll call me freedom, just like a Waving Flag,
And then it goes back, and then it goes back,
And then it goes back
Born to a throne, stronger than Rome
but Violent prone, poor people zone,
But it's my home, all I have known,
Where I got grown, streets we would roam.
But out of the darkness, I came the farthest,
Among the hardest survival.
Learn from these streets, it can be bleak,
Except no defeat, surrender retreat,
So we struggling, fighting to eat and
We wondering when we'll be free,
So we patiently wait, for that fateful day,
It's not far away, so for now we say
[Chorus]
So many wars, settling scores,
Bringing us promises, leaving us poor,
I heard them say, love is the way,
Love is the answer, that's what they say,
But look how they treat us, Make us believers,
We fight their battles, then they deceive us,
Try to control us, they couldn't hold us,
Cause we just move forward like Buffalo Soldiers.
But we struggling, fighting to eat,
And we wondering, when we'll be free
So we patiently wait, for that faithful day,
It's not far away, but for now we say,
[Chorus] 2x
(Ohhhh Ohhhh Ohhhhh Ohhhh)
And everybody will be singing it
(Ohhhh Ohhhh Ohhhhh Ohhhh)
And you and I will be singing it
(Ohhhh Ohhhh Ohhhhh Ohhhh)
And we all will be singing it
(Ohhh Ohh Ohh Ohh)
[Chorus] 2x
When I get older, when I get older
I will be stronger, just like a Waving Flag,
Just like a Waving Flag, just like a Waving flag
Flag, flag, Just like a Waving Flag
Rekindled Romance
After a jaw dropping disastrous series of losses or forfeits in the last 21 games spanning the last five months, my rating fell like a bear market! Just look at the graphical indication. I totally distanced myself from GameKnot. I just was not there. Not physically, not mentally.The good news is that my chess playing had been rekindled through the use of a mobile phone chess app. It really helps that I get to play on the go. Indeed, now I am able to keep connected to my ongoing games with friends or opponents from overseas, via this nifty platform. Alas, we are now liberated from the boundaries of distance and timing.
I can only keep up with one ongoing game on Gameknot now, and would probably not resume the previous regularrity on GameKnot anytime soon.
Here's the latest game from GameKnot with an American, with some comprehensive and interesting shifts of focals and an inevitably devastating skewer (as illustrated in Quantum Quietus) that won the mid game. Like soccer, when you win the midfield, you win the game...
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For those who found significance in the name of the match: It was influenced by a manga which I finished reading two months ago. When I named the game, I didn't know I was white (L) or playing black (Kira). Hence, in this particular game of chess, L triumphed over Kira... just like he did in the movie version.
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