'Baryphony' can mean indistinct or slurred speech. That's probably all this is about. Random nonsense.
Store it just for future.
Baryphony
(To S, the new series)
1. Nf3
Months after the last poem from me,
with months of stories untold.
I hope you remember the A and P,
and the virus can soon be controlled.
I'm not new to chess at any rate,
But I am never the sharpest tool.
Do you remember that time when I said mate,
forgetting about the en passant rule?
It's still about chess, under a new name,
And white opens with the knight --
A solid opening to a new chess game,
with an interesting battle in sight.
But things might be different this time,
this is actually a threatening move.
Only 3 moves are fine in this line,
I'll leave it for readers to prove.
Whoa, chess theory is not that advanced,
And yes, I'm trolling, you can say.
But the power of engines has been enhanced,
That's why '960 is the way'.
I'm lucky to have friends like you,
And my family is supportive and strong.
So forget about the 'good' times I went through
and things that had gone wrong.
I still believe in miracles,
I still believe in flames.
Behind all those obstacles
are the most beautiful games.
1….f6
Normal days just come and go,
At least a new spring is near.
The new series has just started so —
Don’t worry, it won’t end here.
The world is slowing clearing up the mess,
I hope everything’s still fine for you.
Sometimes unnecessary dramas in chess
Are worse than Liam’s WeirdChamps 2.
In the opening you can play for tricks,
It’s possible to play anything —
But did black forget about “Never play f6”,
And severely endanger the king?
No, as you’ve probably guessed,
This is an atomic chess game.
f6 is undoubtedly the best,
With all engines supporting the claim.
A knight is dangerous on your 4th rank,
This solid move keeps it away.
White may still attack on the flank,
But we don’t need to care today.
f6 is the only move that makes black fine,
At least it’s not losing by force.
But theories are advanced in this line,
So Na3 is better, of course!
Everyone has some bad days,
Everything might come to an end.
But you led me through the maze —
So thank you, my best friend.
2.Na3
Life can bring challenges to us,
But we all need to face it.
"Don't complain about life" and thus
I'm trying to embrace it.
The semester is ending soon,
Safely we all stay at home.
Legend says if you can't see the moon,
Chances are that you use Chrome.
Sometimes in chess it's hard to avoid
Taking a "free pawn" -- Don't grab it!
It's very easy to get annoyed --
Like me, I'm changing my habit.
White put the queen's knight on the rim,
But in atomic it's a different story.
The future of that knight is not dim,
In many cases it brings home the glory.
This move is not entirely a "scam",
("Scam": A term used by some good atomic players when they lose)
If you like positional games like me.
Now that most people hate the "spam",
("Spam": 1.Nf3 f6 2.e3 in atomic)
Why not try knight to a3?
Atomic is notoriously good for white,
As can be seen in AWC.
But don't think it's solved as you might,
There are still lines left to see.
My friend group is still relatively small,
I'll try to be as nice as you.
Chess drama are unnecessary, after all,
What is true remains true.
2. …b5
Chess dramas are really unnecessary,
In the variants world we need peace.
We are all excited about the candidates,
So buckle up, everyone, please.
Liam will support Giri as usual,
I support MVL instead.
I’ll keep records of all the 'poems'
(Yeah, I also post these to lichess forums, why not?)
Just like I once said.
OK, atomic openings are very tricky,
It's difficult to defend as black.
You'll have chances in the endgame
after fending off white's attack.
Pushing the b pawn is recommended,
As it dominates white's side knight.
But white still preserves the initiative,
So I still play this as white.
In crazyhouse, you make unsound sacs,
In horde, you attack on both wings.
If you really want to avoid drama,
Don't consider Racing Kings.
(Yeah, Racing Kings community has a lot of drama, although doesn't make it a bad variant)
Life is hard during the quarantine,
I hope the pandemic can end soon.
Real life is not like the atomic variant --
Kings together are somehow immune?!
Integration has an improved definition,
Atomic has a balanced Version 2.
While going through all the challenges,
It's good to have friends like you.
3.e3
A stressful period has already ended,
Hopefully you're also doing fine.
I know today brings back bad memories,
So I won't cross the line.
Not all prior distributions are proper,
not all functions can be expressed.
I can still choose reasonable options
Even if I can't find the best.
Just like chess, any variant of it,
Players prepare in the opening phase;
But even in a losing position
there are often saving ways.
White opens up the bishop and queen
while keeping the defense intact;
It seems that no threats are made --
But white is still better, in fact.
After the first few forcing moves,
atomic players also develop pieces;
If nothing is going on for several moves
White's advantage gradually decreases.
Nepomniachtchi has won the candidates,
That's a name that I can't spell;
Who can win the world championship?
Of course it's too soon to tell.
But I can't win the atomic championship,
Neither can Mr. Weird Champ.
So what? I'm still more than happy to
slowly get out of the cramp.
I might still be weird and evasive
But there's so much to live for.
Bad memories can end soon, you know --
after I turn 24.
(Well, this is more like a meme now...)
3. ... e6
On this special day I'd continue this series,
celebrating me turning 24.
Now we can review all the old poems,
rewinding the memories galore.
Under the bookshelf buries my sad history,
ever so distant and so true.
Quickly enough I was able to recover,
poems did help a lot, too.
Entering the middlegame, black starts developing,
using a logical pawn push.
Now black is aiming for the center,
scheming a nasty ambush.
Some says Na3 is a boring opening,
coz both sides seem to be defending.
Early stages feature many boring pawn moves,
until the players trade into an ending.
-- But atomic is slowly losing its charm,
largely due to the annoying "spam".
If you hate "spams" you can always avoid them,
and be a Yokke player like I am.
(I know you don't care about atomic chess, but it's not as 'lost for black' as you think. Yokke = Na3 opening)
Slowly I'm sorting out all the mess,
regardless of what the old poems speak.
"Dark histories" are temporary and also forgetable
-- like Liam's WeirdChamp-free week.
(Liam used WeirdChamp a lot everywhere, even on my twitter, so I challenged him to stop using it for a week. He did.)
.
The virus should be controlled soon,
everything is returning to normal.
Hopefully my atomic poems can give you a charge,
but hey, don't be too formal!
4.d4
(Two updates on my birthday because why not?)
I like to hide secrets in my poems,
but not all are known to you.
Not all of them are "inside secrets",
and not all are backed by truth.
Some say atomic is just lost for black,
chess is just a waste of time —
I say if it can bring you happiness,
killing some time is fine.
Do you remember that troll incident
ending the Polyphonies game?
Everything starts to be in place now,
do you still remember the first series' name?
Sadly I won’t be that active online,
but I still play chess once in a while.
Enjoy your life and the game of chess—
yeah, that’s better than my old style!
Center control is still vital in atomic,
"When in doubt, just push the pawns."
— There are many strategies in the opening,
they all have their pros and cons.
Rarely is d4 a top engine move,
rarely is it a blunder as well.
Every bullet game in this line was "positional",
until someone’s flag fell.
That’s obviously an exaggerating claim,
there are many attacking ideas here.
Sac the knight on c4, for example,
hoping breakthrough chances appear.
.
Today is hardly a milestone for me,
but let’s honor it for the memes.
I believe your poems can be better than mine —
Poetry is not as hard as it seems!
4…d5
We don’t need more drama,
we don’t need more pain.
My tournament has failed,
and the gang was gone again.
But after all the drama,
everything can still be fine.
Just like the game of chess,
enduring the test of time.
Atomic is not a forced win,
horde is not a forced loss.
If you encounter a “spammer” —
fight till mate like a boss.
In atomic, as you know,
opening principles are the same.
Black mirrors white’s move
and here starts the middlegame.
White must still be slightly better,
but black’s camp is hard to invade.
Now we arrive at the phase to decide
whether it’s a good idea to trade.
As long as you play honestly,
It’s acceptable to blunder at times.
Even if you lost some variants games,
they’re still better than my rhymes.
Not everything is supposed to be true,
Not everything can go as planned.
But the baryphonies will continue
hopefully you’ll understand.
5.Bd3
Farming, bannings and surprise alts,
now I almost achieve drama immunity.
Despite all the stuff that happened,
I still have faith in the community.
Twists and turns are common in chess,
tournaments are slowly coming back.
Sometimes the old chess style still works,
sacrificing pieces for the attack.
Bishop moves are quiet and simple,
but here it threatens the rook.
Developing with tempo is always nice,
better than the notorious “hook”.
(Qh5 Qb5 Qb6 is called the hook)
Some hate blocking center pawns,
Some hate one-move threats.
Middlegames are better than openings—
You don’t need theories or stats.
Not all functions are continuous,
not all opening theories are true.
Chess variants are not like chess—
Just do whatever you wanna do.
It’s sad to see old members leave,
it’s sadder to disband the gang.
But you can still try atomic 2,
Hope you can get the hang!
(My Atomic 2 team though…)
5…g6
Don’t care too much about the drama,
Don’t worry too much about the rain.
The despair surrounding the quiet city
Reminds me of the never ending pain.
But humanity can overcome the virus,
Your chess memes are still neat —
Everybody can enjoy online chess
As long as nobody tries to cheat.
The engines might become stronger,
But atomic chess is still not solved.
That being said, over the recent years
Opening theory has surely evolved.
This is effectively an easy forced move,
As black defends against the threat.
“Check the purpose of the last move” —
Sometimes it’s easy to forget.
The notorious first move advantage of atomic
Might be hard to ignore,
But even after years of theory creation
There’s still much to explore.
Best players might say black’s lost in atomic,
But everybody has hope in atomar.
(It’s a variant trying to make atomic more balanced, but nobody knows what it is yet)
Remember when I started playing chess?
Well, I might have gone too far…
I might still be evasive and sensitive,
But I’ll try not to act so strange.
Time flies but whatever time it is,
Our friendship will never change.
