Indigo Heron

Player Information

Indigo Heron joined mafiascum.net on February the 27th, 2008, after being recommended to it by another frequent patron of the website, ting =).

He was one of the best chess players in his secondary (high) school, and is the most skillful attacker in it. He was known to beat his opponents by analysing simple and relatively harmless sequences of moves and prepare for an attack in positions where others saw nothing. He also enjoys playing complicated positions, but wouldn't mind keeping it straightforward and simple, either (although he'd prefer it being complicated rather than simple). His preferred chess openings are the Nimzo-Indian, French, Sicilian defences, the Queen's Gambit, and the Ruy Lopez.

He is also known to have a driven desire to win in everything he does. He doesn't take defeat well, but he never wants people to go soft on him, especially chess games, as it mocks his intellect and reasoning power.

A newbie in the game of Mafia (especially on this level), he is still learning the ropes.

He is currently enrolled in University of Michigan as a transfer student majoring in Aeronautical Engineering. Besides chess, he also enjoys football, rifle marksmanship (when he can get to it, and preferably with bolt-action sniper rifles), paintball (especially so with proper markers), airsoft (bolt-action sniper rifles) and ice hockey (again, when he can get to it...).

Chess Game History

Indigo Heron Vs. darkdude (1-0)

My first game on this website. It was relatively simple and straightforward. I used Queen's Gambit as the opening, which he declined, and then accepted (which is rather intriguing, but nevertheless acceptable). I then made the overtures to target Black's kingside, and struck when the time was right. He demonstrated an unwillingness to trade pieces, something that I exploited.

Along the way, I capitalised on Black's mistakes and blunders, such as 4. ...f5, which kept his pawn at c4 isolated, and 9. ...c5, which decided the course of the game. Either it was tactical oversight, or it was his unwillingness to sacrifice pieces. A better move would have been Nc5, threatening White's queen and would lead to an exchange of queens, among others, which would have led to pressure on his king to be eliminated, and mine slightly increased. Such moves allowed me to build a relatively strong position in the centre early on which was the basis for my victory, all the while avoiding mistakes.

ting =) Vs. Indigo Heron (0-1)

White resigned. A very interesting and open game. I used the Berlin Defence to counter his Bishop's Opening, which surprised me, since no one really uses the opening White did (although Russian grandmaster Garry Kasparov has been known to occasionally use it to surprise his opponents). White was enthusiastic to exchange pawns and pieces with me to clear the board and keep things simple. For example, he was looking to trade queens at 10. Qe2+, which I delayed with 10. ...Be6 (it was a better move than Qe6, anyway) and before that , White traded pawns as early as 5. exd5, and bishops at 8. Bxf4, after being presented with a stand-off with Black's bishop.

This was extremely fun to play - one of the toughest games I've ever had. It was a shame that it had to end with a blunder.

darkdude Vs. Indigo Heron (0-1)

White resigned. A rematch of an earlier game, with me playing as Black this time. He plays with the King's Pawn Opening, which promises an open game. I counter with the popular Sicilian Defence. He plays the anti-Sicilian Alapin Variation, attempting to set up a strong pawn centre. In giving up a queen and a pawn for equal materiel, I force the centre open again, and gain an advantage in piece development, as he has to backtrack to defend, not to mention that he can't castle.

After that, Black seemed content to let me bomb forward with pieces without any form of defence to safeguard his king, which is to be his downfall (as I will demonstrate in the game). I attack his pathetic excuse for a defence through the centre and left flank. In return for a Bishop, and a Rook, White loses 2 Rooks, and his entire pawn structure is in jeopardy.

Notably, at one point in the game, I was in a really bad mood (due to real-life events), and decided not to go for the win, but crushing his resistance everywhere, with the emphasis on 'crushing'. So, this loss of concentration is what's causing this game to drag on. There were instances where I was playing with him, but it did not affect the overall result.

White was much better compared to our first game, if first impressions are to be considered. However, he made a lot of silly mistakes endgame which stalled his tempo, and caused me to win the game sooner rather than later.

Indigo Heron Vs. Fuzzyman (1-0)

Black resigned. After playing 1. d4, I was a little surprised by his 1. ...Nc6, since it's quite unorthodox for Black when White is playing 1. d4, as White can transpose into an inverted Alekhine's Defence, from which Black would have to attack then and there, or create pawn weaknesses in White's forces later, which is incredibly difficult.

I considered pushing the pawn up, playing 2. d5 (which would lead to the variation of Alekhine's Defence), but I decided to play 2. e4, otherwise known as Centre Game to begin proceedings, establishing a firm grip on the centre.

Now, the Centre Game is not really my cup of tea, but since it was recommended prior to this game by ting =), I guess it doesn't hurt trying it out, does it? Now, it's been transposed into a weird version of the French Defence, Advance Variation.

This was really a no-contest match. He was outclassed, and outthought. I didn't even have to use all my pieces to defeat him.

Antrax Vs. Indigo Heron (0-1)

White resigned. It was a pretty unorthodox game from move 4. He uses Alekhine's Defence. Considering his moves up to move 4, I was thinking that he was going for the Four Pawns Attack, but he decides to play it safe.

After that, the game was much more passive and closed, with both sides having equal chances. I chose to bypass his pawn structure, operating my pieces from the wings, while I blocked his pawns from advancing from prepared positions from my pawns. In the end, I managed to get much more active play from my pieces than he could with his, which allowed me to win the match.

Macavenger Vs. Indigo Heron (0-1)

This time, I play the Najdorf Variation of the Sicilian Defence. It's going to get real interesting around here. However, I transposed back to a more pessimistic version of the Dragon Variation I was able to regroup and my pieces and pawns were in place to stretch his defence to the breaking point. It's a shame he resigned before it happened.

Indigo Heron Vs. Antrax (1-0)

A rematch of an earlier game, with the sides switched around. He plays the Nimzowitsch Defence, which is something that I do not particularly prefer, but still, I allowed Black to capture a pawn, and I continued in true gambit style, my activity in my pieces outweighing Black's materiel advantage of a pawn (which I recaptured later).

Antrax Vs. Indigo Heron (0-1)

Game 3 of what must be a Mafiascum.net Chess Championship. It went from a Bird's Opening and transposed into a King's Gambit. From then, the game took on a more patient, closed tone - with both sides making relatively attrition-based maneuvers, each hoping that the opponent will screw up.

Indigo Heron Vs. Macavenger

Game 2 of me and Mac. I am able to play one of my preferred openings - the Worrall Attack of the Ruy Lopez. Black is probably playing along with me, but I suspect that he is a little taken aback by me playing 5. Qe2 which avoids the Open Ruy Lopez and the Archangel Variation, instead of the usual 5. O-O, which does.

[http://www.mafiascum.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=9101 Indigo Heron Vs. Thinktank (0-1)

My first defeat on the site, although honestly, I had it coming to me. I underestimated him greatly, and he played the Sicilian Najdorf. I resigned as soon as I saw he had the advantage, since I was going to lose in the eventual bloodbath and while I still had dignity.

Thinktank Vs. Indigo Heron

A rematch of my first loss. I end up playing the Albin Counter-Gambit.

Antrax Vs. Indigo Heron (0-1)

My very first Fischer Random game. I played my opening cautiously by moving my knights, obliging White to show his hand first.

Indigo Heron Vs. Netlava (1/2-1/2)

My first draw. There was no clear winner after 20 or so moves, and I couldn't exactly predict who would emerge with the upper hand with the exchanges, so I proposed a draw. He is still adamant he would've won, although I have absolutely no idea how. It was also worth noting that this was my second Fischer Random game, so I guess I did well.

Mafia Game History

Newbie 577: Beijing Mafia

My first Mafia game. Played as scum. Admittably, I was terrible, and was swept along the currents of the more experienced players of the game. Eventually got bored and allowed myself to be lynched.

Newbie 610

This time, I'm the cop. I was lynched on the very first day. However, I was much more interested in this game than the first, but I went rogue and played gambits to lure the scum out, but admittably, I miscalculated (a rare thing indeed) and played it too far, and now the town thought that I am scum, and just when I give a lengthy explanation of my actions as a last ditch effort to avoid being lynched, the town suddenly realises that I'm a pro-townie with a vigilante feel, but it's too late to turn back the clock. This game was fun to play as a pro-town character.

This was a game where, if I had stayed alive a day longer, could have resulted in a town victory. My first target to investigate was scum (had I stayed alive), and the third person from the bottom of my scum list was also scum (which I would have investigated by Night 2). From there, one can deduce that I was going to let the scummiest people on my list be lynched, while I investigate the people from the bottom of my scum list up.

Newbie #633: Barroom Brawl

Finally got started after a lengthy confirmation through PMs. I got lynched for testing out an anti-town tactic to catch scum. It's flawed, since everyone went after me. However, a friend of mine says that he's seen it in action, where the player was so anti-town, the townspeople were scared to lynch him. Hence, based on my friend's observations and mine, I can deduce that...

- The 'acting anti-town' tactic only works on experienced people, or ICs.

- Using this in a game of newbies will almost certainly result in a lynch.

Newbie 626

Replaced into this game 5 minutes after finishing Newbie #633. My first impression of this game is that it's very closed, since one of the most talkative people in the game was lynched, and a lurker was assassinated. I also have a guy who is following my theory, enabling me to experiment with it (without knowing whether he is scum or not), but he seems to have survived the first day, which lends credence to the theory. It's possible that the town can still win, but at the same time, with the details being so vague, the scum may just nick this.

In the end, though, I got lynched at LYLO, resulting in a town win, although someone was so kind as to remember the scum's efforts via doing a scum dance of victory. There were too many holes in my fake-claim, but it still made them second-guess me as to whether I'm scum or not.

Mini 686: Chess Mafia

This is a very interesting game that is still playing.