Saturday 24 May 2008

I had a dream

I had a dream the other night. In it I was paired against Viswanathan Anand in the 3rd round of an important knockout event. (Don't ask me how I made it to round 3 as I didn't dream this bit).
My major problem in the dream was what to play against 1.e4 While I was furiously trying to do some prep, Anand was amusing himself by giving pre-game interviews to the media. In the end I decided he would play the Ruy Lopez and I would try the Marshall. But figuring he knew everything there was to know, I'd try the Steiner Variation. This consists of 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.c3 d5 9.exd5 e4?! (D)

But having decided that I then began to worry that he might choose the Ponziani (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3) just to confuse me.
Unfortunately I can't tell you the result of the game, as in all dreams of this sort I realised I wasn't wearing any trousers and while franticly searching for them my hotel room in the minutes before the start of the game, I woke up.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think this was the game:-

[Event "Fantasia KO"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2008.05.29"]
[Round "3.1"]
[White "Anand, V."]
[Black "Press, S."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C89"]
[WhiteElo "2803"]
[BlackElo "1775"]
[PlyCount "40"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. c3 d5 9. exd5 e4 10. dxc6 exf3 11. Qxf3 Bg4 12. Qg3 Bd6 13. Qh4 Re8 14. f3 Bf5 15.Rxe8+ Qxe8 16. Bd1? Bd3 17. Na3 Bc5+ 18. Kh1 Be2 19. Bc2 Bxf3! 20. gxf3 Qe2
0-1

Anonymous said...

Shaun,
This post should be labelled MA or at least PG. Being invited into the world of your dreaming would have to rate as one of the scariest moments I have experienced in internet history :)
Phil

Anonymous said...

A Freudian analysis.
Have you or anyone close to you been worried about any serous health issues? In your dream the unwinnable battle against Anand can be seen as a metaphor of a battle with the Grim Reaper.

tanch said...

It could've been worse. You could've been paired with Topalov, and in your dream, you refrain from going to the toilet because of accusation fears not realising you've actually wetted your pants in reality while sleeping.

TrueFiendish said...

Shaun's subconscious is certainly optimistic. It has him playing a dubious line of a difficult and extensively analysed gambit against the toughest, most experienced player in the world. No "Caro-Kan and hope for a draw" for him! Nup, much better to simply wipe the bunny off the board. ;-)