Centuries ago as an unrated player, I participated in my first serious tournament: Milan's Open Championship. In the same event, I came to know another unrated player. He was a young man, with rather long air. Although it was his first tournament, he played magnificently. He did won against 1st category players and he drew against candidate masters and masters as well. Soon he became 1st category. Then Candidate Master and Master. In 1985 he won a strong master tournament and then he gave up playing chess at all. In my youth I played a lot of blitz games. This guy was the only player against whom I could not really play...after 10 moves he sac'd a pawn...after 15 moves he sac'd a piece...and our game never lasted more than 30 moves :-(
I met him again in Bratto 2011. He decided to participate in the master tournament just the week before the tournament started. I asked him how he had prepared for the tournament. He answered that his only preparation was to study a few games blindfold taken from the "Torre & Cavallo - Scacco!" italian chess review
Amazing..no study on the openings at all. I asked him how he studied the endgame. He smiled while answering that his games never reach the endgame...
I approached him in the analysis room, while he was trying to explain his analysis to an eastern IM he had just smashed with his enterprising way of playing. I voluntereed to translate their post mortem comments and I was soo amazed to translate this italian master's analysis. Amazing. He had a positive performance in Bratto 201 and he gained many elo points. Great respect for this chessfriend. or this post only I have disabled the comments, as I do not want to reveal this guy's name. Otherwise italian chess players might be induced to take him to the endgames...if they are not chess-murdered in the middlegame..of course :-)
