A Horse Named Stranger

Shout out to Palace and Glasner for getting 9 points out of what looked like a very tricky run of games on paper. (Liverpool, West Ham and Newcastle)

Not sure if we had this covered, but Xavi reversed his decission and will stay in charge at Barca.

And inability to defend set pieces. Boy that was sorta defending (I guess?) by van Dijk.

The problem wasn't the pass being risky, it was the execution being absolute garbage. It was totally underpowered.

Ah, artist, art, AI. I will try to sum up your point, scot, with a little hyperbole. Art is the product of the work of an artist. What is an artist? Somebody who produces art. So is an AI an artist? If we go by that definition yes. Is it good art or bad art? I am not a critic. If it speaks to you, you enjoy it, then it is art to you, no matter if a machine or a human produced it. Can a machine produce (or generate?) that human experience of art for you? Question of the 21st century. (Wo)Man-machine boundaries. When photography popped up, there was a sorta similar discussion on whether photographers are artists (compared to painters), as they merely point their devilish device at an object and take a snapshot. If you think photography can be art, then by extension you should be able to view AI generations as art, too.

Yeah, but your were moaning about ten Hag being unable to set up a team defensively and you leaking goals left, right and centre. So I felt it was worth pointing out, that this goal was 100% Onana and 0% ten Hag.

Now it was Diaz turn in the inept finisher category at Liverpool. Not as bad as Darwin's miss, but boy Liverpool are back at wasting chances.

Also, that goal in United vs. Sheffield is 100% on Onana and not ten Hag.

Darwin really should've leveled the score there (undeservedly as Everton are better).

You still have to play Spurs. No, I am serious! I've always felt that would be a game you could lose. Again, I am serious!

Now imagine the scoreline if Arsenal had been just a wee bit more clinical with their chances.

But that's your destinaty. You are the chosen one, Anakin.

Somebody start a new thread?

Those things are not mutually exclusive. Ukraine has used drones to compensate for lack of artillery (ammo). There are situations, when a bunch of artillery shells are better suited than a dozen drones. A task for every tool a tool for every task etc. Drones will be vital but so will be the more traditional artillery in this conflict.

Bayern are narrowing down their list of candidates for the headcoach position. Frontrunners for a permanent appointment: Rangnick and Emery (no longer on the list: Zidane, and de Zerbi). They met with both and had first probatory talks with them Frontrunners for an interim appointment (1 season + option if things work out): Flick and Favre. Tuchel apparently really not willing to prolong his stint. He wants to salvage as much from the season (plain speak CL) as he can and then just move on. Bit surprised that Favre is apparently a candidate, but then again him and Eberl know each other from their Gladbach days with quite a bit of mutual respect. The arguments in favour of the temporary solution. They could give their preferred solutions a new go. Alonso (obviously) and Hoeneß (yes, Uli Hoeneß's nephew, right now in charge at Stuttgart). Maybe even Klopp after his sabbatical.

Didn't Kirschner address the issue a while ago? I think he assumed, that the protection of 45 behind bars would be the responsibility of the US Marshall service, as they have the experience and expertise on that matter.

Gukesh did what he had to and was supposed to do. Calmly drew his game against Nakamura and then wait and see what happens on the other board. Congratulations to him, deserved winner. Story of the round will be the Carudrama against Nepo. Once again, both in a must-win situation. Fabi managed to get into a winning position. Then around time control he made life more difficult (narrowed the path to victory significantly) than it had to be with the more active 39.Bh7!? (which once again, was still winning) but this allowed Nepo to give up an exchange to eliminate one of Fabi's extra pawns and allowed play against the white king with 39...Rxg5! 40.Qxg5 Qxh7, which was virtually the only chance Nepo had to stay in this game. We are not talking about winning, just not losing was an achievement at this point. We reached move 40 thus extra time for both players, esp. for Fabi, who desperately needed it. Alas, the first moves past time control are among the most error rich (yes, I am also speaking from experience here). 41.Ka1?? was an error (41.Ka2! keeps the winning chances, subtle differences) Nepo seized his chance 41...Qc2! and the position is level, based on perpetual ideas with around Nb3+;Nc1+. The position is objectively drawn, but the path to the draw is very, very narrow and not trivial. 42.Qg8+ Ka7 43.Ka2 a4! 44. f4 Nb3?? this once again puts Nepo on course to a loss. 44...Ka6!! was the right move, as the white queen has to keep watch over the a2-g8 diagonal and not allow her black sister to give checks there, the Knight has to stay on c5 for that. It's not an impossible move to find, but the two natural Knight jumps to d3 or b3 as in the game are both losers. The trickiest thing about 44...Ka6!! is you have to calculate the lines after Qa8+ and arrive at the conclusion that it's merely a perpetual. Again, doable for players at that level, but not trivial. Anyway back to the game after 44...Nb3?? 45.Qg7+ Ka6 46.Qc3 Qg2 47.Qc4+ Kb7 48.Re1 Nc5 +-. White has managed to stabilize, he has freed his rook and driven the Knight out from his b3 outpost. And from here you just assume that Fabi converts this. And he keeps on winning for the next 20 moves or so, until he slips again and the position peters out into a drawn queen ending. Super resilient play by Nepo and a super painful draw for Caruana, which will feel like a loss for quite some time.

I have the feeling that the last laugh of the day will be on Liverpool, tho. No idea if the thread will be open long enough tho.

lol

Meanwhile after back-to-back loss winning a game again felt nice. At least keeping the 5 point cushion to the play-off rank intact. And almost equally important increasing the distance to our dearest neighbours to 11 points with 4 games to go. Run-in is rough. But play-off rank is secure, now it's just about staying on the direct promotion spot(s). Again, I don't care if we go up by winning the bloody league or by finishing second. I could just do without the bloody play-off games.

Personally I think best chess playing millenial not named Magnus is Levon (also best player, who never wore the crown).

And indeed both Gukesh and Caruana are now winning. Assuming nobody suffers a heart attack and thus Gukesh and Caruana will be able to convert. We would go into the final round with Gukesh in the lead 1.Gukesh 8.5 2.Caruana, Naka, Nepo 8 5.Pragg 6 6.Vidit 5.5 7.Firou 4.5 8.Abasov 3.5 Edit: No heart attacks, thus those are standings before the final round. Pairings: Nakamura (8) - Gukesh (8.5) Caruana (8) - Nepo (8) Abasov (3.5) - Pragg (5.5) Firou (4.5) - Vidit (5.5) Nice thing that the contenders have to play each other, with Naka, Caruana and Nepo being in must win situations. 9 Points are the requirement to get into the tie-breaks, assuming that Gukesh doesn't win. If Gukesh wins, it's game over for the pack.

I mean Ken fucking (it's his middle name) Buck called out her incompetence and insanity and fell out of favour with the MAGA crowd and he essentially had to resign. So while some mainstream conservatives might have grown as tired of her as you and the rest of us, the main chunk of her party hasn't.

Nepo - Nakamura was a draw afterall. As was the dead rubber game between Vidit and Abasov Pragg has found a nice defensive resource. Essentially ejecting an exchange to stabilize things and have better squares for his pieces and coordination. I still believe in Caruana, but it will be a long day at the office for him. Gukesh - Firouzja is wild, I still back Gukesh.

Call me when she loses her seat (either in a primary or GE)