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[Stegyre]

I get “frenched”:
White: c’est moi
Black: ocarrasco (please don’t tell me that’s the nom de chess of someone else at CFC.
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Qb6 6. a3 Bd7 Book. Nothing to see, here.

7. b4 cxb4 8. axb4 Nge7 Wasn’t explicitly in my “book,” but strongly implied, so I don’t think I was “off,” just yet.

9. Na3 Ng6 10. Bd3 Be7 11. Bg5 Bxg5 By this point, I should have castled. I put it off, thinking I should “aggressively push the attack,” but in retrospect, I fail to see how these moves were accomplishing much in my favor. And 10. Bd3 was just slavishly following an idea that lost all benefit after 6. … Bd7.

12. Nxg5 Nxb4 Oops! Just lost a pawn, and having foolishly thrown away my black bishop, if I try taking the knight, I’ll lose at least two more pawns and the ability to castle. I let it go . . . but not to castle.

13. Rb1 Nxd3+ 14. Qxd3 Qa5 15. Ra1 Rc8 My, haven’t I accomplished a lot in those moves?

16. O-O Rxc3 17. Nc2 Qxa1 18. Rxa1 Rxd3Finally get the king out of the way . . . at what cost?? From here, it’s pretty much downhill: down a rook and two pawns against a player who isn’t making mistakes.

19. Nf3 a6 20. Nfe1 Rc3 21. Rb1 Rc7 He extricates his rook and covers his unblocked pawns. My opponent sends me a message: “decista logo sera menos doloroso pra vc !!!!!!!!”
I don’t read Portuguese, but I’ll attempt by own free-hand translation: “stop [decista] this foolishness, you pathetic [doloroso] fool; please resign, like a decent human-being, so I can devote my time to playing someone more competent!!!!!!”
Not sure I have much of a defense to that charge, except that (a) I like to play games through to the very end (or at least to the point where one can say “M3” or some such; i.e., where it is indisputably inevitable); and (b) I need practice engineering a draw from a losing situation. Comments are welcome on appropriate etiquette for this situation: was I a jerk for drawing this out?

22. g3 O-O Oh, goody! Here comes the other rook. “Abandon hope all ye . . . .”

23. Nb4 Rfc8 24. Ned3 Bb5 25. Nc5 Seemed like a good idea at the time. Clearly hadn’t learned my lesson about one pawn being stretched too thin when called upon to defend two different points, a lesson my opponent understands all too well:

25. … Nxe5 26. Kg2 Rxc5 27. dxc5 Rxc5When you’re so far ahead in material, why not?

28. Rd1 My only hope/excuse? Just maybe he’ll make a mistake and let me breakthrough on the d-file, and I could still mate with just the rook.

28. … f6Nope. Apparently, his mother did birth any fools.

29. f4 Ng4 30. Re1 a5 31. h3 Nh6 32. Nxd5 Bc6 33. Kf2 Bxd5 34. g4 b5 35. f5 Rc2+ 36. Kg3 Rg2+ 37. Kf4 e5+ 38. Ke3 Nxg4+ 39. hxg4 Rxg4 40. Rd1 Re4+
41. Kf2 Rd4 42. Rc1 Bc4 43. Ke1 a4 44. Rb1 a3 Even I can’t take it any more: 0-1

Lessons learned: (1) watch that one-pawn-defending-two-points thing; again, it’s something a basic player overlooks. (“Well, of course that one is protected: see that pawn, there?”); (2) while one needn’t [/i]rush[/i] to castle, if you wait for the second or third sign of trouble, instead of the first, you’ll probably pay more for the privilege.

 

[Panzar75]

Re: the last game

I have played the French defence for about 3-4 years now and I must admit I have never seen a3/b4 played... ever.

Anyway, 13. Rb1 must be wrong since you go back again moments later. Why not accept the piece? If you do not take his Knight you have lost a pawn for no reason and is just worse. In this case I would go for the complications even if my position was objectivly worse.

Say, 13. Bxg6 (to protect d4) hxg6 (of fxg6 perhaps) 14. cxb4 Qxb4+ 15. Qd2 leaves you a piece up for 2 pawns... I would be nervous about the a- and b-pawns but a piece is a piece and you should be better. Besides, look at the scope of his remaining Bishop.

Even if you were somehow to lose 3 pawns it's still usually slightly better to have the piece than 3 pawns... This is definatley where the game was decided.

17. Nc2 loses lots of material... Qd2 seems neccessary even if you're still down 2 pawns and quite lost.

And my opinion is that you have the right to play on for as long as you want to. The only time I get annoyed is when playing a game60 or so and my opponent takes 30 minutes before resigning with like Queen, Rook, a few pieces and some pawns down, not making any moves. Other than that, I don't see any problems playing on. You never know what may happen. Last week, one of the players in my chess club drew a King+Rook vs. King. He was low on time but still... you never know.

 

[Stegyre]

I have played the French defence for about 3-4 years now and I must admit I have never seen a3/b4 played... ever.

And now, you know why . . .
Seriously, a3 was explicitly book, and so, it appears, was 7. b4:

Therefore, White's most common replies to 5...Qb6 are 6.a3 and 6.Be2. 6.a3 is currently the most important line in the Advance: it prepares 7.b4, gaining space on the queenside.

Perhaps my mistake is using Wiki for my "book."

Anyway, 13. Rb1 must be wrong since you go back again moments later.

QFT

Why not accept the piece? If you do not take his Knight you have lost a pawn for no reason and is just worse. In this case I would go for the complications even if my position was objectivly worse.

Well, it's two pawns lost, not one [13 cxb4 Qxb4+], as well as losing the ability to castle and blocking in my rook.

Say, 13. Bxg6 (to protect d4) hxg6 (of fxg6 perhaps) 14. cxb4 Qxb4+ 15. Qd2 leaves you a piece up for 2 pawns... I would be nervous about the a- and b-pawns but a piece is a piece and you should be better. Besides, look at the scope of his remaining Bishop.

Dashing! Wish I'd thought of it!

Thanks for the analysis.

 

[Blue Emu]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Qb6 6. a3 Bd7 7. b4 cxb4 8. axb4 Nge7 9. Na3 Ng6 10. Bd3 Be7 11. Bg5 ...

This is certainly a strong strategic idea... to exchange off one pair of Bishops, and leave Black with a bad Bishop on d7 against your own good Bishop on d3. That basic plan is entirely suited to this position, the only question is whether the move Bg5 is tactically feasible without first playing either 11. Nc2 or 11. O-O

My own pick would be 11. Nc2 and I would then hope that my opponent would reply by castling K-Side, since then White can choose whether to carry out the same plan as before (Bg5), or play for a very straightforward K-side attack, beginning with h4. As long as White can keep the center closed (eg: 11. Nc2, overprotecting b4 and d4), he need not hurry with castling.

Still, I'm not yet convinced that the move actually chosen (11. Bg5) is really bad... but I suspect that 11. Nc2 (or 11. O-O) was better.

11. ... Bxg5 12. Nxg5 Nxb4 13. Rb1 ...

This looks like the real mistake... the only way to test Black's sacrifice is to accept it. 13. cxb Qxb4+ 14. Kf1, Qxd4 15 Nxf7?! probably loses to 15 ... O-O (but not 15 ... Kxf7? 16. Bxg6+ winning the Queen); but by playing 13. Bxg6 first, before capturing the Black Knight, White should hold onto his d-Pawn.

 

[Panzar75]

Well, it's two pawns lost, not one [13 cxb4 Qxb4+], as well as losing the ability to castle and blocking in my rook.

If you play Bxd6 first there is no need to lose the castling rights unless he exchanges Queens... I guess you mean if you don't see Bxd6 THEN taking the Knight might not be a good idea?

If you play cxb4 immediately, then yes, you'll lose the castling right. But I would probably play this anyway. There are two possibilities:

Play 1 pawn down with no compensation what-so-ever. I will easily lose this 90%+ of the time, drawing the rest. Practically no wins.

Play piece up but 2-3 pawns down. There are imbalances that can perhaps eventually work in your favour. Sure, there is a positional cost in no castling, but that can hopefully be rectified soon as long as there are no immediate threats. This type of position I would expect a better ratio from than 10% draws no wins.

Blue Emu's suggestion of Nxf7 is interesting (Nxe6 is the same idea). 13. cxb4 Qxb4+ 14. Kf1 Qxd4 15. Nxe6 Qxe5 16. Nc5 Bc6 white's position looks better and better to me... you can force the Queens of the board if you want to, maybe doubling black's pawns with Bxg6 is good, Bb5 forces the trade of the Bishops and black can not play 0-0 immediately because of the fork on d7... There are plenty of interesting options.

 

[Stegyre]

I don't always lose: this one isn't over just yet . . . except for all practical purposes.

White: me
Black: Vulture

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 c6 5. Bd2 b6 6. e3 Bb7 7. Nc3 Bd6 8. Nge2 O-O 9. O-O Nbd7 Pretty basic, no?

Now, I have to start thinking for myself. I decide to see if I can break through on the queen-side.

10. Na4 Feel exposed doing this, most fearing 10. ... b5, which just generally feels like it will degrade my position however I play it.

10. ... a6 11. b4 b5 12. Nc5 Rb8 13. Nxb7 Rxb7 14. c5 Bc7 15. a4 Nh5 16. Nc3 g6 17. axb5 axb5 18. Ra6 Nb8 19. Ra8 f5 20. Bf3 Qe7 21. Bxh5? gxh5 22. Qxh5 Giving up my fianchettoed bishop for a knight and a pawn. In retrospect, I don't think this was a good idea, on my part.

22. ... Kh8 23. Na2 Rg8 24. Nc1 Qg7 25. Nb3 Bd8 26. Na5 Rf7 27. Qf3 Doh! Realize, after moving, I could have had a piece (Rxb8). Did I unwittingly avoid a very subtle trap, or was I just stupid?

27. ... Bc7 28. Ra1 Rff8 29. Ra7 Rf7 30. Nb3 e5 31. Bc3 e4 32. Qh5 Rf6 33. Qh4 Rh6 Trapped! Sort of.
Wish I could say I planned things like this, but this was more like recognizing a risk of letting my queen hang out in a bad neighborhood. She goes down, but she's expensive!

34. Qxh6 Qxh6 35. Rxc7 Qf8 36. Raa7! Do I get an exclamation mark for that? It sure felt good. But I suppose the real credit here goes to 34. ... Qf8?

36. ... Rg7 37. Rxg7 Qxg7 38. Rxg7 Kxg7 And now that extra piece I got for my queen makes all the difference in the world.

39. Na5 Kg6 40. Kg2 h5 41. f4 h4 42. Be1 Kf6 43. h3 Kg6 44. g4 fxg4 45. hxg4 Kh6 46. Kh3 Kg6 47. Kxh4 Kf6 48. Kh5 Kg7 49. Kg5 Kh7 50. Kf5 Opposition, shmopposition! I'm off to force an exchange of knights (as best I can) and slaughter pawns.

50. ... Kh6 51. Ke6 Kg6 52. Kd6 Kf7 53. Nxc6 Na6 54. Kxd5 Nc7+ 55. Kxe4

That's it, so far. The black knight still lives, but now I could trade a piece and one or two pawns for it and still have "overwhelming force."

All that being said, what could I have done better? (And of course, no comments about the future - that would be cheating. )

 

[Richard Cribb]

Re: the last game

I have played the French defence for about 3-4 years now and I must admit I have never seen a3/b4 played... ever.

Actually it is a standard plan, but usually Black prevents b4 with playing 6...c4. 6...a5!? is also possible.
The 3.e5 variation is a very interesting one. I recommend a study of the games of Evgeny Sveshnikov, a most inventive and independent chess thinker as well as a strong grandmaster.
And everyone who want to play the French should know the games of Botvinnik, Korchnoi and especially Uhlmann.

Anyway, 13. Rb1 must be wrong since you go back again moments later. Why not accept the piece? If you do not take his Knight you have lost a pawn for no reason and is just worse. In this case I would go for the complications even if my position was objectivly worse.

I agree. Besides, this sacrifice must be incorrect.

Say, 13. Bxg6 (to protect d4) hxg6 (of fxg6 perhaps) 14. cxb4 Qxb4+ 15. Qd2 leaves you a piece up for 2 pawns... I would be nervous about the a- and b-pawns but a piece is a piece and you should be better. Besides, look at the scope of his remaining Bishop.

I think a good variation is 13.cxb4 Qxb4+ 14.Kf1! with a clear advantage for White. Now 14...Qxd4? is met with 15.Nxf7!, and 14...Ba4 with 15.Qxa4+ Qxa4 16.Bb5+.
The king is quite safe on fi, and there is no reason why White shouldn't keep the queens on considering that he has quite good attacking chances.
Also 15.Nb5 seems to give slightly better chances than 15.Ra1, since White gets quite an active position for his pawn.A possible variation is 15.Nb5 Bxb5 16.Rxb5 Qc7 17.0-0 and Black will have to be careful; for instance 17...h6? 18.Nxe6.
After that, I think that White is beyond saving.

 

[Panzar75]

Now 14...Qxd4? is met with 15.Nxf7!

Why do you prefer Nxf7 over Nxe6? They both seem interesting and about equally good but I think I would have gone with Nxe6.

White: me
Black: Vulture

As for the latest game, instead of 53. Nxc6 you could have played 53. Kc7 and won the Knight for a pawn after 53... Na6+ 54. Kb7. Not that it was of much practical importance in this particular position.

 

[Stegyre]

I think a good variation is 13.cxb4 Qxb4+ 14.Kf1! with a clear advantage for White. Now 14...Qxd4? is met with 15.Nxf7!, and 14...Ba4 with 15.Qxa4+ Qxa4 16.Bb5+.

This I follow: 14...Ba4 with 15.Qxa4+ Qxa4 16.Bb5+. 15.Nxf7! is murkier to me: 15. ... Kxf7 16. Qf3+ Kf4 (threatening 17. ... Qxd3+) or 16. ... Ke1/e2/g2 (so white just gives back the piece he just won?).
What am I missing?

As for the latest game, instead of 53. Nxc6 you could have played 53. Kc7 and won the Knight for a pawn after 53... Na6+ 54. Kb7. Not that it was of much practical importance in this particular position.

Yeah. At this point (a couple of moves on), I've taken the last black pawn, so black has no conceivable hope of anything better than a draw, which will be awfully hard to accomplish against a continuous chain of six pawns.

 

[Blue Emu]

I think a good variation is 13.cxb4 Qxb4+ 14.Kf1! with a clear advantage for White. Now 14...Qxd4? is met with 15.Nxf7

Doesn't 15.Nxf7 just lose immediately to 15. ..., O-O; pinning the Knight against f2? Surely Nxe6 is better...

 

[Richard Cribb]

This I follow: 14...Ba4 with 15.Qxa4+ Qxa4 16.Bb5+. 15.Nxf7! is murkier to me: 15. ... Kxf7 16. Qf3+ Kf4 (threatening 17. ... Qxd3+) or 16. ... Ke1/e2/g2 (so white just gives back the piece he just won?).
What am I missing

15...Kxf7 16.Bxg6+ wins the Queen.

Doesn't 15.Nxf7 just lose immediately to 15. ..., O-O; pinning the Knight against f2?

No. 15...0-0 16.Bxg6 Qxd1+ 17.Rxd1 hxg6 18.Nd6 ought to be good for White.

Surely Nxe6 is better...

I am not so fond of 15.Nxe6 because of 15...Qxe5! 16.Nc5 Bc6 with good counterplay.

 

[Stegyre]

15...Kxf7 16.Bxg6+ wins the Queen.

. . .

15...0-0 16.Bxg6 Qxd1+ 17.Rxd1 hxg6 18.Nd6 ought to be good for White.

One of these days, I'm going to play luceafarul.
It will be a very short game.

 

[Panzar75]

I am not so fond of 15.Nxe6 because of 15...Qxe5! 16.Nc5 Bc6 with good counterplay.

I'm not sure I see why black's counterplay is any better after the above line compared to Nxf7. In the quoted line you have a couple of ideas to play on (which I stated in an earlier reply), but after Nxf7 things look much more complicated to me.

Let's say, 15. Nxf7 Nxe5 16. Nxe5 Qxe5 what now? White is still better but I fail to see the same clear ideas as in the quoted line. (In case you dared take the Rook; 16... Nxh8 Nxd3 17. Ra2 Ba4 and after taking the h8-Knight, things are looking less clear, no?)

 

[Blue Emu]

Another old tournament game from the '80s... I was Black in a Sicilian Najdorf, Gotenburg Deferred:

White Black
(Some Guy) Blue Emu
1. e4 c5
2. Nf3 d6
3. d4 cxd
4. Nxd4 Nf6
5. Nc3 a6
6. Bg5 e6
7. f4 Be7
8. Qf3 h6

The Gotenburg variation...

9. Bh4 Qc7

... Deferred. More thematic is the immediate 9. ... g5?! to undermine White's control of the e5 square by diverting the White f-Pawn aside. Unfortunately, after 9. ... g5?!; 10. fxg, Nfd7; 11. Nxe6!? leads to a very strong attack and at least a draw for White, while the "quiet" 11. Qh5 (threatening Nxe6) may be even stronger.

10. O-O-O Nbd7
11. Qg3?! ....

Probably stronger is 11. Be2, in order to indirectly discourage 11. ... g5 by limiting the activity of Black's Knights on the K-side, and by emphasizing the light-squared weaknesses that ... g5 would create. The move actually played (Qg3) leaves the White dark-squared Bishop misplaced on h4.

11. .... Rg8

Intending 12. ... g5; 13. fxg, Nh5 with a double attack on g3 and g5 (discovered from e7). After (for example) 14. Qf3, Black can interpose 14. ... hxg attacking the White Bishop before tending to his own attacked Knight on h5.

Black's loss of castling privileges is meaningless, since the Black King would hardly be any safer on g8 than he is sitting in the center.

Again, White's best move is probably 12. Be2 (incidentally preventing 13. ... Nh5 after 12. ... g5; 13. fxg). Instead, White decides to cut the Gordian Knot, at the cost of exchanging off his dark-squared Bishop.

12. Bxf6 Nxf6
13. Bd3 ....

Possibly threatening 14. e5 dxe; 15. fxe Nd7; 16. Nxe6!? and the White Bishop penetrates to g6 with check... so Black strikes immediately, to knock the props out from under the e5 square.

13. .... g5
14. f5 e5
15. Nf3 ....

In retrospect, this turns out to be the wrong square: 15. Nde2 would have been much superior, in order to reinforce the "threatened" White Knight on c3... but it's not easy to see at this point that the White c3 Knight will soon be under heavy attack.

The position is quite interesting... on the surface, White appears to have the better game, with free development, centralization and open lines; while his King has found a home on c1. Black, on the other hand, has a weakened K-side, a cramped and slow development... both Bishops shut in... and his King is stuck in the Center.

Appearances are misleading... Black has, at the very least, a large advantage... and he may already be winning. Black's main trump is that he has a clear, effective Q-side attacking plan; which unfolds naturally as he glides out of his current cramped position. White, on the other hand, has already reached his high-tide on the K-side, and must regroup for a few moves before continuing his attack. In those few moves, Black will be able to generate enough Q-side counter-play that White's K-side attack never really gets back into gear.

15. .... b5
16. a3 Bb7
17. Rhe1 Rc8

Black definitely forgoes castling. The threat is now 18. ... Qa5 followed by Rxc3 and a general Q-side massacre, so White hustles his Queen back...

18. Qf2 Qa5
19. Qd2 ....

... just in time. Now Black's attack is starting to slow down... he needs to get the Bishop at e7 and the Knight at f6 into the action. So: one more preparatory move, and then all hell breaks loose.

19. .... g4
20. Ng1 d5!?

This is clearly a decisive move, but whether it wins or loses the game is much less clear. With the center open, both Black Bishops spring to life and the Knight on f6 gains a route into the action, but the two center files are opened against the exposed Black King. ("Kids, don't try this at home...")

21. exd Bxa3

Overloading the White b-Pawn, which is now also pinned against the King on c1. The White Knight on c3 is now en prise.

22. Rxe5+ Kd7!

Only. Not 22. ... Be7? 23. d6 winning, nor 22. ... Kf8? 23. Qh6+ winning. The White Pawns at d5 and (especially) f5 are very useful to Black... denying White some good attacking squares.

White now protects the attacked Knight at c3, thus forcing the Black Bishop to retreat.

23. Nge2 Bd6
24. Re3 b4
25. Nb1 Nxd5!?

Going for broke... the center is now completely open against my poor exposed King, but nearly all of my pieces are joining in the attack. White's King, although surrounded by loyal defenders, is no safer than mine.

26. Re4 Qa2!

Not an obvious move, but it prevents both Bc4 (with serious threats on the d-file) and also Rc4 (neutralizing my pressure on the c-file). The Queen-move also takes command of important squares near the White King, like b2.

White now lays a trap... into which I willingly fell. The game is getting so complicated that it's growing difficult to tell good moves from bad ones.

27. Rd4?! Be5
28. Rxb4!? ....

Springing the trap. 28. ... Nxb4 is met by either 29. Bb5 double-check (followed by Qd7+), or else by 29. Bc4 discovered check, attacking my loose Queen. Meanwhile, the White Rook on b4 guards b2 and attacks b7 with check. What's the catch?

28. .... Nxb4!

Oooops! 29. Bc4 discovered check is met simply by 29. ... Kc7!, after which 30. Bxa2 walks into Nxa2 smothered mate; while if he creates a flight-square by 30. Qd7+ Kb8!; 31. Bxa2 Rxc2 is an epaulette mate. No better is 29. Bb5 double-check, since after 29. ... Kc7!; 30 Qd7+ Kb8; White's attack runs out of steam in spectacular fashion... a Rook down, his Bishop en prise, mate threatened at c2, his b-Pawn attacked... and he's run out of checks.

The line White actually plays (involving Qxb4) is probably as good as any, hoping to force the Black Queen off-side.

29. Bc4+ Kc7!
30. Qxb4 Bxb2+!

Now if 31. Qxb2 Qxc4 and it's White's Queen (not Black's) that is off-side. White decides to take his chances on the open board instead... but the end is quick and gruesome.

31. Kd2 Rcd8+
32. Bd3 ....

With the lifting of the Bishop's threat to Black's Queen, White entirely surrenders the initiative to his opponent.

33. .... Rxd3+!

Now 34. cxd loses White's Queen to 34. ... Ba3 discovered check; while 34. Ke1 loses the Queen to 34. ... Rxd1+; 35. Kxd1 Qxb1+; 36. Kd2 Bc1+; 37. Kc3 Bd2+ followed by 38. ... Qxb4+

34. Kxd3 Rd8+
35. White Resigns

He is losing a Rook.

 

[Bluemofia]

I played 7 games over the past 2 days for a High School Chess tournament for the state of Illinois, standard 1 hour, 5 second delay for both sides. I'll post them sometime soon when I have time.

 

[Bluemofia]

White: Me
Black: Some guy

e4 e5
Nf3 Nc6
Bc4 Nf6
d3 Bc5
Bg5 h6
Bh4 0-0
Nc3 d6
h3 g5
Bg3 Bb4
0-0 Nd4
Nxd4 pxd4
Nd5 Nxd5
Bxd5 Be6
Bxb7 Rb8
Ba6 Rb6
a3 Bc5
b4 Rxa6
pxc5 pxc5
a4 c6
Qh5 Kh7
f4 f6
Pxg4 Bf7
Qxh6 Kg8
pxf6 Be6
Qg7++

Note: I do not mark checks, as they can be inferred by reading the notation.

 

[Tomoyo]

... Bb6
0-0 Nd4
Nxd4 pxd4
Nd5 Nxd5
Bxd5 Be6
Bxb7 Eb8
Ba6 Rb6

Rb6 is an illegal move.

EDIT: Oh, I think I know what happened. Bb6 was supposed to be Bb4.

EDIT (again): And I assume Pxg4 is supposed to be g5...

 

[Bluemofia]

Fixed. My handwriting is a bit hard to read, and I kind of miswrote some things. And I typed "E" instead of "R" for one of the moves.

 

[Tomoyo]

Oh, and I forgot to say congratulations! (By the way, how did you do in the tournament?)

Oh, and your opening was boring. D:

 

[Bluemofia]

IHSA

I'm not brilliant at openings. I concentrate on trading off in the middle game (also, ironically, when i get bored), and then going off from there. End games I tend to overlook minor details and end up losing because of it, and openings I can be easily defeated if rushed.

You know my RL name, and you can go look up how I did compared to everyone else.

My record was 4-0-3, and even though I didn't score the required 6 points to get a medal at the lower boards, I still get a medal for being in top 10 (according to my chess coach, because we left early, and he had some other coach pick it up for me.)