tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51142348072761943382024-03-12T22:07:33.567-04:00Castling Queen SideLooking at the "Game of Kings" from the Queen's point of view.Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13747958243702670987noreply@blogger.comBlogger474125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5114234807276194338.post-19316621109673284242014-04-02T17:50:00.000-04:002014-04-04T18:25:17.025-04:00Turning Point Towards 1800It was no April Fools joke about my 1800 rating. I left with one of my typical time pressure train wreck positions. I'm wondering to myself, will people think I do nothing on this blog except show butt ass ugly losses? Are there any wins out there that are worth sharing? The answer is yes.<br />
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As I mentioned in the previous post, losing that 2nd round game was pretty disheartening. I have been continually frustrated with my inability to put such games behind me and move on. Somehow on that particular Monday I moved on. On any given Monday I go to the Bob Peretz Chess Club to run our Monday action tournament(3 rounds, game/25; 5 second delay), not knowing whether or not I'll need to play. If an even number of players show up, I'll sit it out so no one gets a bye. If an odd number of players show up, I'll play. There are some Mondays where I'm hoping like crazy that we have an even number so I don't have to play. I think it was one of those Mondays where I would have been just as happy playing Scrabble on my iPad or reading Facebook posts then playing chess. <br />
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Sometimes it's best to be pushed into something that one would rather not do. So here I am on a night where I'd rather not be playing, and I've just lost my 28th game to Guy. Now I have to play another kid who is currently ranked #5 amongst 8 year olds in the United States. Long time readers know my stories about playing little kids. However this post is not one of my "kid encounters of the third kind". No annoying quirks or other silly nonsense. In fact my young opponent score 10 out of 10 on the politeness scale. Here's a kid before the game who looks me in the eye, confidently says "good luck" and gives a good firm handshake. No "dead fish" handshake that I often get from kids. At the end of the game another firm handshake and "good game."<br />
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Here's the game.
<div><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://kvchess.com/releases/latest/KnightVision.swf" width="100%" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://kvchess.com/releases/latest/KnightVision.swf" /><param name="flashvars" value='orientation=H&tabmode=false&light=f4f4fF&dark=0072b9&bordertext=494949&headerforeground=ffffff&mtforeground=000000&mtvariations=FF0000&mtmainline=000000&mtbackground=ffffff&pgndata=[Event "BPCC Jan Action #2"] [Site "?"] [Date "2014.01.13"] [Round "3"] [White "Polly P Wright"] [Black "Maximillian Lu"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A21"] [WhiteElo "1700"] [BlackElo "1773"] [Annotator "Polly"] [PlyCount "97"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] [Source "MonRoi"] 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 d6 5. d3 f5 6. Nf3 Nf6 7. e4 O-O 8. O-O Nc6 9. Nd5 Nxd5 10. cxd5 Ne7 11. Bd2 Kh8 12. Qc1 Ng8 13. Bg5 Bf6 14. Bxf6%2B Nxf6 15. Re1 Nd7 16. b4 a5 17. a3 axb4 18. axb4 Rxa1 19. Qxa1 Nf6 20. Qc3 Kg7 21. Nd2 Qe7 22. Rc1 Rf7 23. Nc4 fxe4 24. dxe4 g5 25. Rc2 h5 26. h3 g4 27. h4 Nd7 28. Ra2 Kg6 29. Qe3 Nf8 30. Ra8 Bd7 31. Ra7 Bb5 32. Na3 Bd7 33. Rxb7 Bc8 34. Ra7 Nd7 35. Rxc7 Qd8 36. Qc3 { 36. Nb5 creates more problems for Black, but my move also ties Black up.} (36. Nb5 Rg7 37. Qc3 Nb6 38. Rc6 Bd7 39. Rxd6%2B) 36... Rf8 37. Nb5 { Better late then never.} Ba6 38. Nxd6 Qf6 39. Nf5 Rf7 { 39...Bb5 holds for a little while.} (39... Bb5 40. Bf1 Ba4 41. b5) 40. Rc6 Bb5 41. Rxf6%2B Rxf6 42. Qc8 Rf8 43. Qc7 (43. Qc1 {is stronger.}) 43... Rf7 44. Nd6 Rg7 45. Nxb5 Nf6 46. Qd6 { I’m not sure why I kept refusing to take the pawn on e5.} (46. Qxe5) 46... Rd7 47. Qe6 Rb7 48. Nd6 Kg7 49. Nxb7 {Black resigns. Forced mate in 6.} 1-0'/><p><iframe width='100%' height='350' src='http://kvchess.com/joo/latest/showpgn.html?tabmode=0&boardonly=1&orientation=H&tabmode=false&light=f4f4fF&dark=0072b9&bordertext=494949&headerforeground=ffffff&mtforeground=000000&mtvariations=FF0000&mtmainline=000000&mtbackground=ffffff&pgndata=%5BEvent%20%22BPCC%20Jan%20Action%20%232%22%5D%0A%5BSite%20%22%3F%22%5D%0A%5BDate%20%222014.01.13%22%5D%0A%5BRound%20%223%22%5D%0A%5BWhite%20%22Polly%20P%20Wright%22%5D%0A%5BBlack%20%22Maximillian%20Lu%22%5D%0A%5BResult%20%221-0%22%5D%0A%5BECO%20%22A21%22%5D%0A%5BWhiteElo%20%221700%22%5D%0A%5BBlackElo%20%221773%22%5D%0A%5BAnnotator%20%22Polly%22%5D%0A%5BPlyCount%20%2297%22%5D%0A%5BEventDate%20%222014.%3F%3F.%3F%3F%22%5D%0A%5BSource%20%22MonRoi%22%5D%0A%0A1.%20c4%20e5%202.%20Nc3%20g6%203.%20g3%20Bg7%204.%20Bg2%20d6%205.%20d3%20f5%206.%20Nf3%20Nf6%207.%20e4%20O-O%208.%20O-O%20Nc6%0A9.%20Nd5%20Nxd5%2010.%20cxd5%20Ne7%2011.%20Bd2%20Kh8%2012.%20Qc1%20Ng8%2013.%20Bg5%20Bf6%2014.%20Bxf6+%20Nxf6%2015.%0ARe1%20Nd7%2016.%20b4%20a5%2017.%20a3%20axb4%2018.%20axb4%20Rxa1%2019.%20Qxa1%20Nf6%2020.%20Qc3%20Kg7%2021.%20Nd2%0AQe7%2022.%20Rc1%20Rf7%2023.%20Nc4%20fxe4%2024.%20dxe4%20g5%2025.%20Rc2%20h5%2026.%20h3%20g4%2027.%20h4%20Nd7%2028.%0ARa2%20Kg6%2029.%20Qe3%20Nf8%2030.%20Ra8%20Bd7%2031.%20Ra7%20Bb5%2032.%20Na3%20Bd7%2033.%20Rxb7%20Bc8%2034.%20Ra7%0ANd7%2035.%20Rxc7%20Qd8%2036.%20Qc3%20%20%2036...%20Rf8%2037.%20Nb5%20%20Ba6%2038.%20Nxd6%20Qf6%2039.%20Nf5%20Rf7%20%20%2040.%20Rc6%20Bb5%0A41.%20Rxf6+%20Rxf6%2042.%20Qc8%20Rf8%2043.%20Qc7%20%2043...%20Rf7%2044.%20Nd6%0ARg7%2045.%20Nxb5%20Nf6%2046.%20Qd6%20%20%2046...%20Rd7%0A47.%20Qe6%20Rb7%2048.%20Nd6%20Kg7%2049.%20Nxb7%20%201-0' border='no' seamless='seamless'><a href='http://kvchess.com/joo/latest/showpgn.html?pgndata=%5BEvent%20%22BPCC%20Jan%20Action%20%232%22%5D%0A%5BSite%20%22%3F%22%5D%0A%5BDate%20%222014.01.13%22%5D%0A%5BRound%20%223%22%5D%0A%5BWhite%20%22Polly%20P%20Wright%22%5D%0A%5BBlack%20%22Maximillian%20Lu%22%5D%0A%5BResult%20%221-0%22%5D%0A%5BECO%20%22A21%22%5D%0A%5BWhiteElo%20%221700%22%5D%0A%5BBlackElo%20%221773%22%5D%0A%5BAnnotator%20%22Polly%22%5D%0A%5BPlyCount%20%2297%22%5D%0A%5BEventDate%20%222014.%3F%3F.%3F%3F%22%5D%0A%5BSource%20%22MonRoi%22%5D%0A%0A1.%20c4%20e5%202.%20Nc3%20g6%203.%20g3%20Bg7%204.%20Bg2%20d6%205.%20d3%20f5%206.%20Nf3%20Nf6%207.%20e4%20O-O%208.%20O-O%20Nc6%0A9.%20Nd5%20Nxd5%2010.%20cxd5%20Ne7%2011.%20Bd2%20Kh8%2012.%20Qc1%20Ng8%2013.%20Bg5%20Bf6%2014.%20Bxf6+%20Nxf6%2015.%0ARe1%20Nd7%2016.%20b4%20a5%2017.%20a3%20axb4%2018.%20axb4%20Rxa1%2019.%20Qxa1%20Nf6%2020.%20Qc3%20Kg7%2021.%20Nd2%0AQe7%2022.%20Rc1%20Rf7%2023.%20Nc4%20fxe4%2024.%20dxe4%20g5%2025.%20Rc2%20h5%2026.%20h3%20g4%2027.%20h4%20Nd7%2028.%0ARa2%20Kg6%2029.%20Qe3%20Nf8%2030.%20Ra8%20Bd7%2031.%20Ra7%20Bb5%2032.%20Na3%20Bd7%2033.%20Rxb7%20Bc8%2034.%20Ra7%0ANd7%2035.%20Rxc7%20Qd8%2036.%20Qc3%20%20%2036...%20Rf8%2037.%20Nb5%20%20Ba6%2038.%20Nxd6%20Qf6%2039.%20Nf5%20Rf7%20%20%2040.%20Rc6%20Bb5%0A41.%20Rxf6+%20Rxf6%2042.%20Qc8%20Rf8%2043.%20Qc7%20%2043...%20Rf7%2044.%20Nd6%0ARg7%2045.%20Nxb5%20Nf6%2046.%20Qd6%20%20%2046...%20Rd7%0A47.%20Qe6%20Rb7%2048.%20Nd6%20Kg7%2049.%20Nxb7%20%201-0'>PGN</a></iframe></p></object></div>
My even score for that Monday night would bump my rating from 1700 to 1706. A very modest gain, but it was the start of something more to come.Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13747958243702670987noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5114234807276194338.post-79757250612073611742014-04-02T00:32:00.001-04:002014-04-02T00:35:17.520-04:00Rating: 1859! April Fools!.....Not!Today is April 1st, and the April rating list is now in affect. For the first time since February 1997 I have a published rating over 1800. I don't even want to count that month because I was at my floor of 1800. They lowered the floor by 100 points and by April of 1997 I was sitting at 1702. To save you the trouble of going to the USCF website and checking on me, I offer the following:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIeBkmea3p0LCYjkhXiAi7HwGZRhn7n0IBjjadOi-6mLvz86n0NI7SRSBlDFUv4lDRJJMYQZJy1V7Fy_QDxnm6WjlX3wlv2fn-AwG6YmXasI7nizWoIyo3bMSd7gAQxGa594Imvu4td00/s1600/Parallels+Picture+7.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIeBkmea3p0LCYjkhXiAi7HwGZRhn7n0IBjjadOi-6mLvz86n0NI7SRSBlDFUv4lDRJJMYQZJy1V7Fy_QDxnm6WjlX3wlv2fn-AwG6YmXasI7nizWoIyo3bMSd7gAQxGa594Imvu4td00/s1600/Parallels+Picture+7.png" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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If you're wondering whether or not I've been doing loads of hardcore studying and brushing up on tactics, the answer is no. Despite the miserable ending of 2013 where I scored a miserable 1/2 point (a 1/2 pointed that I lucked into in a hopelessly lost position) out of the last 5 games I played that year, I did not make any bold New Years resolutions such as "I'm going to study chess everyday for an hour." Even a little resolution such as "I will work on 5 tactics problems a day" was not promised. I don't make New Year's resolutions because all I would do is not keep them and then beat up on myself for not sticking to them. I'm not even sticking so well to promise to myself to write more often. <br />
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My first tournament of 2014 had the potential of being special. I drew with an 1800 in round 1 and beat another 1800 in round 3. Unfortunately sandwiched between those games was one of my usual time pressure induced implosions again Guy Colas. He's beaten me more times then his son Josh has. His son is rated 2350 or so. Admittedly Guy and I have played each other more often then Josh and I have. However I've lost to Guy 28 times and to Josh 23 times. It seemed like I could win the game. But with a second left on my clock I had this position:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTtzs5zXibYFUaJ-kUvfCS9pabpVAMvmG8XZIYTDmmx6iz3C90ItTYIuAeVIwzS397qZIEhGOND3p1zPefN8iutzTmdCGYfOVEXymbcO65ryBCsks9Y98gZC5V-xhgvZ04bOUIqwHdkH0/s1600/gc-pw011314.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTtzs5zXibYFUaJ-kUvfCS9pabpVAMvmG8XZIYTDmmx6iz3C90ItTYIuAeVIwzS397qZIEhGOND3p1zPefN8iutzTmdCGYfOVEXymbcO65ryBCsks9Y98gZC5V-xhgvZ04bOUIqwHdkH0/s1600/gc-pw011314.jpg" /></a></div>
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He just played 57. Rb7. I replied 57...Kf6. The game continued 58. Ne3, Nd4?? 59. Nd5+! The clock resigned for me. Usually a game like that would leave me totally discouraged for the last round. However somehow I had some fight left in me and won the last round against a young kid who out rated me by a good 100 points.<br />
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Stay tuned for more details.Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13747958243702670987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5114234807276194338.post-16370776738734883822014-02-03T21:59:00.004-05:002014-02-15T01:30:44.100-05:002013 2nd quarter - The road not takenThe highlight of my second quarter chess travels was the decision to not send in an advance entry for the Memorial Day weekend tournament that I had played in the last two years. My plan was to combine my Memorial Day weekend chess trip with my <a href="http://pages.teamintraining.org/wch/ambbr14/pwrighton4" target="_blank">Team in Training</a> trip to Lake Tahoe for <a href="http://www.bikethewest.com/americas-most-beautiful-bike-ride/" target="_blank">America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride</a>. I figured I play in the tournament, and then take in a side trip to wine country on my way to Lake Tahoe. I got a super cheap airfare to San Francisco way back in February. I think I bought my ticket to San Francisco before my ticket for my earlier trip to Colorado and Seattle. Getting a round trip ticket to San Francisco for $230 was too good a deal to pass up. It was case of buying the cheap ticket first and figuring out the details later.<br />
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The previous year I totally winged it. I had entered the 3 day schedule of Best of the West, and then decided to stay an extra day so that I could go on a ride with a West Coast friend's bike club. I switched to the 2 day schedule. The bike ride was beautiful, and the chess was ugly. Thinking back on that, combined with my miserable performance in Victoria I decided I would not commit to the tournament until it got closer to the trip. If I really wanted to play, I could suck it up and pay at the door. If I didn't want to play then I didn't have to worry about getting a refund.<br />
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Here is a picture essay of my Memorial Day weekend "chess" trip.<br />
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After last year's ride across the Golden Gate Bridge I had vowed I would never ride a bike across the bridge ever again. It is truly a scary thing, even for an experienced cyclist such as myself. Between the tourists on the beach cruiser bikes that can't ride a straight line and the tourists who insist on walking or stopping in the bike lane it's an accident waiting to happen. Throw in the maniac racer types trying to weave through that mess going 20 mph it's downright frightening. Despite all of that, I couldn't resist another ride across the bridge to Sausalito. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimWhA1BPTDqi68VpN2pWRVIVMPmaMVZybMeqiQCoglbbolsUpxhEHQuLwoCVNbekyM7dA4R4SQxHqmFdp29aGPCTCohv2DCNc8FWNlZfRYeeQUTQehYsMrwuvq9z9jYR8dItwcVrLYc2s/s1600/San+Francisco+2013+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimWhA1BPTDqi68VpN2pWRVIVMPmaMVZybMeqiQCoglbbolsUpxhEHQuLwoCVNbekyM7dA4R4SQxHqmFdp29aGPCTCohv2DCNc8FWNlZfRYeeQUTQehYsMrwuvq9z9jYR8dItwcVrLYc2s/s1600/San+Francisco+2013+3.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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20 odd miles and a ferry ride later, I'm back at San Francisco's biggest tourist trap, Fisherman's Wharf. Although I have to confess. No matter how many times I come to San Francisco, I can't resist the sea lions. They're the cheapest entertainment in the city. I can spend hours laughing at their antics, and taking a bazillion pictures. Thank goodness for digital cameras. I think on one trip (pre-digital camera) I went through about 5 - 10 rolls of film taking pictures of them. Really now, how many sea lion prints did I need?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoJDBihXBTAwivHJKVdDSXw6oRalr7titanU3WYdrbqzRwirdVXfFgANldZe_XbxspqsrPzw59J4Hlbayuzt3MMVSnL0z6SWRnW-N_oz-Gy8tn1VIZwKceeJABnhlvIVAYRt76iMcEhcQ/s1600/San+Francisco+2013+31.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoJDBihXBTAwivHJKVdDSXw6oRalr7titanU3WYdrbqzRwirdVXfFgANldZe_XbxspqsrPzw59J4Hlbayuzt3MMVSnL0z6SWRnW-N_oz-Gy8tn1VIZwKceeJABnhlvIVAYRt76iMcEhcQ/s1600/San+Francisco+2013+31.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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When one rides a bike in San Francisco there are going to be hills. It doesn't matter if one stays off the streets with the crazy big ass hills, it's hard to get anywhere in San Francisco without encountering some hills. Fleeing to the other side of the bay doesn't help. One of my cycling buddies who lives in Oakland asked me to come on her club ride. Boy was I in for a surprise.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqu_4sQmDMdj9Uy8G3yeqB1Zg3Xn75t1_yxH0OdZq4rd1ey1ttpmKUG5VZVbzJ4dzOP41elzdMof4dnEzrJ5mEtJy0nSIGP6bkG-ZI-HAwOM3PxMeEdgDq8AEDCFG0YgI37fg-Bo2uUWk/s1600/San+Francisco+2013+45.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqu_4sQmDMdj9Uy8G3yeqB1Zg3Xn75t1_yxH0OdZq4rd1ey1ttpmKUG5VZVbzJ4dzOP41elzdMof4dnEzrJ5mEtJy0nSIGP6bkG-ZI-HAwOM3PxMeEdgDq8AEDCFG0YgI37fg-Bo2uUWk/s1600/San+Francisco+2013+45.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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This is the top of Mount Diablo. 10 miles of uphill! However the good thing about climbing up 10 miles of road on a bike is afterward you get to go down 10 miles of road. That last little stretch to the very top in the picture above is about a 19% grade. Pure evil!<br />
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Did I say something about chess? Nope. The only game I saw played over the weekend was a great baseball game between the San Francisco Giants and Colorado Rockies. The Giants were getting their butts kicked, but came back to win with a walk off inside the ball park home run in the bottom of the 10th. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLvtPiW5dhins8OzRKcquqm146Il_fmIRwRfGZo6Fe0yfABofK0C7A4RXmIE5Mrtsl4NWHX6jdCQHsa-EjMPGsNsDxCt9-P3KVy-_y2wsVlEa8v6VOc84KKkoKbRMeESKXmGQwR81tWts/s1600/Giants+Baseball+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLvtPiW5dhins8OzRKcquqm146Il_fmIRwRfGZo6Fe0yfABofK0C7A4RXmIE5Mrtsl4NWHX6jdCQHsa-EjMPGsNsDxCt9-P3KVy-_y2wsVlEa8v6VOc84KKkoKbRMeESKXmGQwR81tWts/s1600/Giants+Baseball+1.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b>Cap Day!!</b></div>
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The solution to whining about playing lousy chess, is not to play lousy chess. Easier said then done. The easiest way to do it is to skip the chess and go for the wine instead. So instead of getting on a train and going to Santa Clara I got in a car and drove to Santa Rosa to visit the <a href="http://schulzmuseum.org/" target="_blank">Charles Schultz Museum</a>. I've always loved Peanuts, so I wanted to visit the museum on my way to Healdsburg where I would be staying for a few days to sample the local produce.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxAndSpi_SEkKfr4f5YoKsecFZY9_Dy08SL5aqD_NtjP9AG2M-FAq0as7AuyFYJZfncHeR00iz2F98wQWaRtgOtLDASR_xSi5Vl4bF35aMGVHZqBqBtRXOC5l0dznMyFstkQa5q_sQg5Q/s1600/Charles+Schultz+Museum+14.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxAndSpi_SEkKfr4f5YoKsecFZY9_Dy08SL5aqD_NtjP9AG2M-FAq0as7AuyFYJZfncHeR00iz2F98wQWaRtgOtLDASR_xSi5Vl4bF35aMGVHZqBqBtRXOC5l0dznMyFstkQa5q_sQg5Q/s1600/Charles+Schultz+Museum+14.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
This is a close up of what makes up the gigantic mural pictured below. Thousands of Peanuts strips put together to make the picture of Lucy pulling the football away from Charlie Brown. I can relate to Charlie Brown's frustration. At times my inability to finish off a "won" game is like Charlie Brown's inability to kick the football. Though instead Lucy pulling away the ball, it's my brain pulling away my focus or whatever that ends out costing me a game. Example below.<br />
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I wasn't originally putting a game in this post, but after making the Charlie Brown analogy I thought it was only fitting to post this game from the last round of the 2013 Westchester CC club championship.<br />
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<object data="http://kvchess.com/releases/latest/KnightVision.swf" height="350" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="100%"><param name="movie" value="http://kvchess.com/releases/latest/KnightVision.swf" /><param name="flashvars" value='orientation=H&tabmode=false&light=f4f4fF&dark=0072b9&bordertext=494949&headerforeground=ffffff&mtforeground=000000&mtvariations=FF0000&mtmainline=000000&mtbackground=ffffff&pgndata=[Event "WCC Champ"] [Site "?"] [Date "2013.06.13"] [Round "6"] [White "Duncan Foster"] [Black "Polly P Wright"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B20"] [WhiteElo "1712"] [BlackElo "1700"] [Annotator "Polly"] [PlyCount "99"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [Source "MonRoi"] 1. e4 c5 2. Na3 Nc6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. d3 d5 5. exd5 Nxd5 6. Be2 g6 7. O-O Bg7 8. c3 O-O 9. Bg5 h6 10. Bh4 a6 11. Nc2 Bf5 12. h3 Nf4 13. d4 Bxc2 14. Qxc2 cxd4 15. Rad1 Qa5 16. b4 Qb6 17. cxd4 Nxb4 18. Qd2 Nxe2%2B 19. Qxe2 Nd5 20. Rb1 Qa7 21. Qc4 e6 22. Rb3 Rac8 23. Qd3 b5 24. Bg3 Rfd8 25. Be5 Ne7 26. Bxg7 Kxg7 27. Qe4 Nc6 28. Rc1 Nxd4 29. Rxc8 Nxf3%2B 30. Rxf3 Rxc8 31. Qe5%2B Kg8 32. Qf4 Rc4 33. Qf6 Qc7 {With the threat of 34...Rc1#} 34. g3 a5 $4 {After my mate threat was stopped I thought it was safe to try to create a passed pawn on the queenside. My queen was controlling my 2nd rank and I still had the battery on the open c file. Totally missed the danger lurking on the a1-h8 diagonal.} (34... Rc1%2B 35. Kh2 Rd1 {ends the threat of Rc1.}) 35. Rd3 Rc1%2B 36. Kh2 g5 37. Rd8%2B Qxd8 { Forced to sac queen to stop the mate on h8.} 38. Qxd8%2B Kg7 39. Qxa5 { Adding insult to injury. Losing the pawn I innocently pushed to a5.} Rc5 40. Qd2 Rd5 41. Qc3%2B Kh7 42. Kg2 Rf5 43. g4 Rd5 44. Qf6 Rd7 45. h4 gxh4 46. Qxh4 Rd5 47. Qf6 Rd7 48. Kg3 b4 49. Qf4 Re7 50. Qxb4 {Bad enough being down a queen for a rook. A passed pawn on the a file was the last straw. Black resigns.} 1-0 '/><p>
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The only frustration I may have felt on this trip was not having enough time visit all the places I wanted to see. However I can't complain too much. I enjoyed tasting a lot of good wine and food.<br />
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<b> Food and wine tasting at <a href="http://www.cliffamilywinery.com/" target="_blank">Vino Velo</a>, St. Helena, CA</b></div>
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<b>Appetizer, dinner and dessert to die for in Lake Tahoe at <a href="http://edgewoodtahoe.com/golf/the-golf-course?gclid=CJbVkYmosbwCFURnOgodTTkANg" target="_blank">Edgewood Golf Club</a>.</b></div>
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It's good thing I cycled 100 miles around Lake Tahoe! I had burn off off the calories I consumed on this trip. I'll end this post with one of the incredible views I got during the event.<br />
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My next post will include a game that relates to this trip, but was not played on this trip. This was truly a chess free road trip.<br />
<br />Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13747958243702670987noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5114234807276194338.post-53436935052164196622014-01-07T23:51:00.000-05:002014-01-08T00:01:34.127-05:002013 2nd Quarter April Fools!As promised or perhaps threatened is a better choice of word, a game from the first quarter of 2013. Technically the game is from the start of the 2nd quarter. It was played on April 1st, but since it was from the Grand Pacific Open that started on March 29th I'm including as part of the first quarter.<br />
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Spoiler alert! Skip to the game if you don't want to know how it ended before the end. Otherwise feel free to read on. <br />
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I can't blame this train wreck on time pressure. For the most part Game/90 with a 30 second increment does not lead to insane time scrambles I've experienced in Thursday Night "Cracktion". Perhaps if I had 10 seconds left then maybe my move could be excused. I had over 10 minutes left, and I spent almost two minutes on the final move. My opponent on the other hand used less then a minute to respond. I suppose losing a game in this manner was very fitting for April 1st. My last move certainly had all the makings of a great April Fools joke. Unfortunately getting mated is no joke.<br />
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End of spoiler. Let the game begin.<br />
<div><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://kvchess.com/releases/latest/KnightVision.swf" width="100%" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://kvchess.com/releases/latest/KnightVision.swf" /><param name="flashvars" value='orientation=H&tabmode=false&light=f4f4fF&dark=0072b9&bordertext=494949&headerforeground=ffffff&mtforeground=000000&mtvariations=FF0000&mtmainline=000000&mtbackground=ffffff&pgndata=[Event "Grand Pacific Open"] [Site "?"] [Date "2013.04.01"] [Round "6"] [White "Polly Wright"] [Black "Elroy Deimert"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E62"] [WhiteElo "1707"] [BlackElo "1742"] [Annotator "Polly"] [PlyCount "82"] [EventDate "2013.07.03"] [SourceDate "2013.07.03"] 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 O-O 5. Nf3 d6 6. d4 c6 7. e4 a5 8. O-O Bg4 9. h3 Bd7 10. Be3 Qc8 11. Kh2 Na6 12. a3 Nh5 13. Qd2 Rd8 14. Bg5 f6 15. Bh6 Bh8 16. Rab1 f5 17. Bg5 (17. exf5 Bxf5 18. Rbe1 Bf6 19. g4 Bxg4 20. hxg4 Qxg4 21. Ne4) 17... Nf6 18. e5 Ne4 19. Qe3 Nxg5 20. Qxg5 dxe5 21. Nxe5 Bf6 22. Qe3 Be8 23. Rfd1 Nb8 24. d5 Qc7 25. f4 Kg7 26. Rd3 (26. dxc6 Bxc6 27. Nb5 Bxb5 28. Rxd8 Qxd8 29. cxb5 a4 30. Bxb7 Ra5 31. Bc6) 26... Rd6 27. Rbd1 (27. c5 Rd8 28. Rbd1) 27... Ra6 28. c5 Rd8 29. dxc6 (29. Bf1 b5 30. dxc6 Rxd3 31. Bxd3 Bxc6 32. Nxc6 Rxc6 33. Nxb5) 29... Rxd3 30. Rxd3 Nxc6 31. Nd5 Qb8 32. Nxc6 {Although I ended out making both captures on c6 and f6, the order makes a difference. Playing 32. Nxf6 is better.} (32. Nxf6 exf6 (32... Kxf6 33. Bxc6 bxc6 34. Qd4 Kg7) 33. Nxc6 Rxc6 34. Qe7%2B Bf7 35. Rd8) 32... Bxc6 33. Nxf6 Kxf6 34. Qd4%2B (34. Bxc6 Rxc6 35. Rd7 Re6 36. Qd4%2B Kf7 37. Qd5) 34... Kf7 35. Bd5%2B Bxd5 36. Qxd5%2B Re6 37. Kg2 $2 {I should be continuing to attack. Instead I’m thinking about trying to centralize my king for a potential rook and pawn or queen and pawn ending.} (37. Rb3 b5 38. cxb6 Qc8 39. Rd3 Qc2%2B 40. Rd2) 37... Qc8 38. Kf3 Qc6 39. b4 axb4 40. axb4 Qb5 {White to move and help mate in 1.} 41. Re3 $4 { The worst possible move! Even 41. Qxe6%2B is better then the rook move.} (41. g4 Kf6 42. g5%2B Kf7 43. Kg3) 41... Qf1# 0-1 '/><p><iframe width='100%' height='350' src='http://kvchess.com/joo/latest/showpgn.html?tabmode=0&boardonly=1&orientation=H&tabmode=false&light=f4f4fF&dark=0072b9&bordertext=494949&headerforeground=ffffff&mtforeground=000000&mtvariations=FF0000&mtmainline=000000&mtbackground=ffffff&pgndata=%5BEvent%20%22Grand%20Pacific%20Open%22%5D%0A%5BSite%20%22%3F%22%5D%0A%5BDate%20%222013.04.01%22%5D%0A%5BRound%20%226%22%5D%0A%5BWhite%20%22Polly%20Wright%22%5D%0A%5BBlack%20%22Elroy%20Deimert%22%5D%0A%5BResult%20%220-1%22%5D%0A%5BECO%20%22E62%22%5D%0A%5BWhiteElo%20%221707%22%5D%0A%5BBlackElo%20%221742%22%5D%0A%5BAnnotator%20%22Polly%22%5D%0A%5BPlyCount%20%2282%22%5D%0A%5BEventDate%20%222013.07.03%22%5D%0A%5BSourceDate%20%222013.07.03%22%5D%0A%0A1.%20c4%20Nf6%202.%20Nc3%20g6%203.%20g3%20Bg7%204.%20Bg2%20O-O%205.%20Nf3%20d6%206.%20d4%20c6%207.%20e4%20a5%208.%20O-O%20Bg4%0A9.%20h3%20Bd7%2010.%20Be3%20Qc8%2011.%20Kh2%20Na6%2012.%20a3%20Nh5%2013.%20Qd2%20Rd8%2014.%20Bg5%20f6%2015.%20Bh6%20Bh8%0A16.%20Rab1%20f5%2017.%20Bg5%20%2017...%20Nf6%2018.%20e5%20Ne4%2019.%20Qe3%20Nxg5%2020.%20Qxg5%20dxe5%2021.%20Nxe5%20Bf6%2022.%20Qe3%20Be8%0A23.%20Rfd1%20Nb8%2024.%20d5%20Qc7%2025.%20f4%20Kg7%2026.%20Rd3%20%2026...%20Rd6%2027.%20Rbd1%20%0A27...%20Ra6%2028.%20c5%20Rd8%2029.%20dxc6%20%2029...%20Rxd3%2030.%20Rxd3%20Nxc6%2031.%20Nd5%20Qb8%2032.%20Nxc6%20%20%2032...%20Bxc6%2033.%20Nxf6%20Kxf6%2034.%20Qd4+%20%2034...%20Kf7%2035.%20Bd5+%20Bxd5%2036.%20Qxd5+%20Re6%0A37.%20Kg2%20%242%20%20%2037...%20Qc8%2038.%20Kf3%20Qc6%0A39.%20b4%20axb4%2040.%20axb4%20Qb5%20%2041.%20Re3%20%244%20%20%2041...%20Qf1%23%200-1%0A%0A' border='no' seamless='seamless'><a href='http://kvchess.com/joo/latest/showpgn.html?pgndata=%5BEvent%20%22Grand%20Pacific%20Open%22%5D%0A%5BSite%20%22%3F%22%5D%0A%5BDate%20%222013.04.01%22%5D%0A%5BRound%20%226%22%5D%0A%5BWhite%20%22Polly%20Wright%22%5D%0A%5BBlack%20%22Elroy%20Deimert%22%5D%0A%5BResult%20%220-1%22%5D%0A%5BECO%20%22E62%22%5D%0A%5BWhiteElo%20%221707%22%5D%0A%5BBlackElo%20%221742%22%5D%0A%5BAnnotator%20%22Polly%22%5D%0A%5BPlyCount%20%2282%22%5D%0A%5BEventDate%20%222013.07.03%22%5D%0A%5BSourceDate%20%222013.07.03%22%5D%0A%0A1.%20c4%20Nf6%202.%20Nc3%20g6%203.%20g3%20Bg7%204.%20Bg2%20O-O%205.%20Nf3%20d6%206.%20d4%20c6%207.%20e4%20a5%208.%20O-O%20Bg4%0A9.%20h3%20Bd7%2010.%20Be3%20Qc8%2011.%20Kh2%20Na6%2012.%20a3%20Nh5%2013.%20Qd2%20Rd8%2014.%20Bg5%20f6%2015.%20Bh6%20Bh8%0A16.%20Rab1%20f5%2017.%20Bg5%20%2017...%20Nf6%2018.%20e5%20Ne4%2019.%20Qe3%20Nxg5%2020.%20Qxg5%20dxe5%2021.%20Nxe5%20Bf6%2022.%20Qe3%20Be8%0A23.%20Rfd1%20Nb8%2024.%20d5%20Qc7%2025.%20f4%20Kg7%2026.%20Rd3%20%2026...%20Rd6%2027.%20Rbd1%20%0A27...%20Ra6%2028.%20c5%20Rd8%2029.%20dxc6%20%2029...%20Rxd3%2030.%20Rxd3%20Nxc6%2031.%20Nd5%20Qb8%2032.%20Nxc6%20%20%2032...%20Bxc6%2033.%20Nxf6%20Kxf6%2034.%20Qd4+%20%2034...%20Kf7%2035.%20Bd5+%20Bxd5%2036.%20Qxd5+%20Re6%0A37.%20Kg2%20%242%20%20%2037...%20Qc8%2038.%20Kf3%20Qc6%0A39.%20b4%20axb4%2040.%20axb4%20Qb5%20%2041.%20Re3%20%244%20%20%2041...%20Qf1%23%200-1%0A%0A'>PGN</a></iframe></p></object></div>
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I can't even begin the explain what the heck happened there. I totally outplayed my opponent the entire game, but couldn't quite finish him off. I can't even blame it on being over confident because I had a crushing position. I've done that many times in the past and did it a few times in 2013. Some things just never change. In this game I think I became fixated on Black's pinned rook and forgot about his queen.<br />
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No USCF rating points were harmed in the making of this disastrous tournament. I think my Canadian rating took such a hit that I don't even show up on the CFC website. I'm not sure why that is since I've played in the tournament 4 times which means I should have a Canadian rating based on 24 games. When I do a cross table search on the event nothing comes up. Maybe all these chess trips to Victoria have been a figment of my imagination. Silly me.
Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13747958243702670987noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5114234807276194338.post-14433806165593876022014-01-05T23:40:00.000-05:002014-01-05T23:40:07.389-05:00Random Thoughts on the 1st Quarter of 2013.A belated Happy New Year. Merry 11th day of Christmas. <br />
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On the 11th day of Christmas my true love brought to me......<br />
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11 mates in one. Nope that's not right.<br />
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I kept telling myself I would write more in 2013, but some how it did not happen. Then again maybe it was because my chess wasn't all that interesting.
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I started the year at 1747 and finished the year sitting on
my floor of 1700.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hitting more floor is nothing new, I've done it a ton of times. In 2013 I
lost, gained and lost those 47 points a number of times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s
kind of like yo-yo dieting. Lose weight, gain it back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lose it again, gain it back again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Most yo-yo dieters spend many months losing the weight, and then bam! Go back to normal eating and gain the weight and then some in half the time. I do rating points the opposite way. </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I’m doing the rating point diet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It takes
me forever to gain rating points, and takes me no time at all to have a crappy
tournament and chuck them all away.</div>
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Actually it took awhile to lose the 36 rating points I gained on 2012 New Years Eve. That's because my 1st rated event after that was the US Amateur Team East where I tossed 15 of them by going 2-4 on Board 2. Our team went 3-3. Some how we never seem to mange to win that last round to get the plus score. BTW, I've come to the conclusion that playing in the main ballroom is over rated. It's crowded and noisy. </div>
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You're probably thinking, "Wow! She didn't play the entire month of January." I did play one game but it was part of the club championship that's played over the course of several months. I got my butt kicked by Joshua Colas. Then again he was rated 2335 at the time. Directing a club championship over the course of several months is harder then running a 300 player scholastic tournament. The scholastic tournament and all the headaches are done in a day or two. The club championship is the headache that keeps coming back. I directed the club championship at both my clubs and both were a headache. Guess what? I'll be doing it again very soon.</div>
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No Liberty Bell Open in 2013. Although my 2012 strategy of taking 2 1/2 point byes in the 3-day schedule and not coining until Sunday worked out fairly well, I didn't feel like making the drive to Philly. Instead I rode my bike 51 miles that Sunday. Some people may think riding a bike outside in New York during January is pretty stupid. They may be right, but I find freezing my ass off while riding is more fun then freezing my ass off in a cold tournament hall, especially if I'm playing like an idiot.</div>
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I did make my 4th annual trip to the Grand Pacific Open in Victoria, BC. I had my worst tournament ever for that event. One draw and 5 losses. Maybe I should suck it up and play in Under 1800 section if I go back this year. That's a dilemma I still have to decide on. (I digress) </div>
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Maybe I can blame my bad performance on the little detour I took on the way out there. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinhegvOPHm5mDaysfhUJsMujdEBil8InQE5pYH1hi3go6ckrDGeMTcHmnp_scl8zpS_EhjyIKiOUCJBnIaOdf65yXq2p_BTMHB2Qw5Tu5Hd66PA0dOX9fEFfISU36ssV7yVZcQNvu1vI8/s1600/Colorado+2013+23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinhegvOPHm5mDaysfhUJsMujdEBil8InQE5pYH1hi3go6ckrDGeMTcHmnp_scl8zpS_EhjyIKiOUCJBnIaOdf65yXq2p_BTMHB2Qw5Tu5Hd66PA0dOX9fEFfISU36ssV7yVZcQNvu1vI8/s1600/Colorado+2013+23.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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Yes I skied down that.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8biwC1WPDq4JQe-cHpiHeba-rFcOhBRi06DwDgECFgojv11aPtwTsq9xRN7zCn7ZL6QuXRIBaKk6Pw7zTplWxhHOpBeJlHr2IXXDj1v7GXVX0suqdCGSah3r40i24BR0PxzWPakxGuAg/s1600/Colorado+2013+20.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8biwC1WPDq4JQe-cHpiHeba-rFcOhBRi06DwDgECFgojv11aPtwTsq9xRN7zCn7ZL6QuXRIBaKk6Pw7zTplWxhHOpBeJlHr2IXXDj1v7GXVX0suqdCGSah3r40i24BR0PxzWPakxGuAg/s1600/Colorado+2013+20.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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Yes that's me on the left.</div>
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For a change I took advantage of the fact that I had the entire week off before Easter. So instead of simply flying out to Seattle on Thursday and jumping on the ferry the next day, I spent 4 days in Colorado and then went to Seattle. Skied for the first time in 7 years. My ski muscle memory is much better then my chess muscle memory. It all came back very quickly. In hind sight I should have just spent the whole week in Colorado.</div>
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If I remember how to upload games I'll include one in my next post.</div>
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Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13747958243702670987noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5114234807276194338.post-44052381737535393672013-02-27T23:58:00.000-05:002013-02-27T23:58:08.305-05:00Draw Drama: Oscar for "best touch move sob story"This past weekend I directed at the state scholastic championships. I worked on the floor as opposed to my normal computer duties that I perform at our local events. When I'm the computer tournament director my main responsibilities are input the scores, do the pairings and post the results. For the most part I'm fairly immune to the dramatics that sometimes occur on the playing floor. There are times I can end out contributing to the dramatics because a result was reported incorrectly (players' or floor TD's error) or I had a case of dyslexia and put in the wrong result. (my error). Fortunately it doesn't happen often and it's usually pretty easy to fix. <br />
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Working on the floor at tournaments can be far more challenging when faced with difficult situations. Touch move disputes tend to be the bane of every tournament director's existence. It takes a patient tournament director to be able to ask the right questions and come up with a fair decision based on the answers given by the players involved. One has to be very diplomatic in handling a situation of one player's word versus the other. As I explained in this <a href="http://castlingqueenside.blogspot.com/2009/02/touch-move-do-as-i-say-not-as-i-do.html" target="_blank">post</a> a few years ago there are a number of things the TD can do to try to resolve the back and forth of "He touched the bishop." "No I didn't!". Most of the touch move disputes I dealt with over the weekend were pretty straight forward and the final decision didn't impact what was going on in the position. However my luck ran out on Sunday in the K-1 section. <br />
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I was called over to this position by the player with White. He claimed Black touched the pawn.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirZX48PLPsmChJCjJaEo3O2oGEvL4-QsDyyhzvj6FFf4JaLyM24vZca15qTByodm-vplgZVnclNuFekO9ZJQTNZZ2P2lMIiGlratyRliXBwjeS1oDezmtheywghB5-IXwlABgWoIGRd9o/s1600/P1010708.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirZX48PLPsmChJCjJaEo3O2oGEvL4-QsDyyhzvj6FFf4JaLyM24vZca15qTByodm-vplgZVnclNuFekO9ZJQTNZZ2P2lMIiGlratyRliXBwjeS1oDezmtheywghB5-IXwlABgWoIGRd9o/s320/P1010708.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
Before looking closely at the position I'm thinking to myself, "What's the big deal about touching the pawn?" I asked Black if he touched the pawn. He said "Yes, but I don't want to move it." I tell the player he has to move it. At this point he bursts into tears and says something to the effect of "It was an accident. I didn't mean to move it."<br />
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At this point I realize that moving the pawn to e3 is going to turn this totally won game for Black into stalemate allowing White to get out with a draw. I tell Black that it's touch move and that he has to move the pawn. He then proceeds to tell me that he doesn't know the touch move rule and that because of that he should be able to make a different move. I tell him that it doesn't work that way. The rule is the rule. He continues telling me that it's not fair because he didn't know the rule. I look at the pairing sheet and notice that he has a rating in the high 900s. A first grader with that rating clearly has some idea of what he's doing and certainly knows about touch move. He keeps insisting that since he didn't know the rule or that he forgot the rule that he should not have to move the pawn. <br />
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I have to come up with a simple explanation of ignorance of the law doesn't excuse one from breaking the law. Quick! How do you explain that to a 6 year old? I used an analogy of my going through a red light. I told him that even if I tell the cop that I didn't know I couldn't go through the red light, I still was going to get a ticket. Same thing applies here. "Move the pawn." The tears didn't stop, but he did finally make the pawn move. I try to be patient and kind in these situations, but at the same time I want to just tear my hair out and tell the kid "Cut the crap. I know you know the rule. Stop giving me this sob story, and just move the #$& pawn!" However what I may be thinking can't be said out loud. Instead I have to make a fair ruling and try to help the kid learn from the experience.<br />
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That was only one of the draw dramas I dealt with over the weekend. Stay tuned for part 2. <br />
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<br />Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13747958243702670987noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5114234807276194338.post-14167166656223574642013-02-18T13:24:00.003-05:002013-02-18T13:25:01.499-05:00USATE - Kid storyIt's been a pretty mellow event for me. Having gotten over the flu I've been laying pretty low. My results have been rather average. I've lost to 2 experts, drew an 1800 and a 1500. I beat a 1345. The 1345 is the one little kid I've played this weekend. Be still my heart, I've played 4 adults. I don't remember the last time that happened. No game against a lower rated kid would be complete without some story behind the game itself. We were paired against a team of 4 little kids. Our 3rd and 4th boards won pretty quickly. Our 1st board and I were having to work a little harder on our games. I had won a pawn in the opening, but I didn't exactly take full advantage of my material edge. We reach the following position after I played <b>30. Qb3</b> pinning his knight on d5.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvL-6ND27gXPptLq5GBUeGnMlfJ1gLOe9_HS7yh20es0HXozY68ZvFpxo3ccVziclJPFggibE04JSS3_xkwnZcw3mQF3NlzzEQAWRbZlb5c-47DMEFl6gNvz3qG4ooZLzMzQvmVbH1H20/s1600/pw-aw021713.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvL-6ND27gXPptLq5GBUeGnMlfJ1gLOe9_HS7yh20es0HXozY68ZvFpxo3ccVziclJPFggibE04JSS3_xkwnZcw3mQF3NlzzEQAWRbZlb5c-47DMEFl6gNvz3qG4ooZLzMzQvmVbH1H20/s320/pw-aw021713.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
I have the threat of 31. e4, but I figured he breaks the pin either by moving his king or put his rook on e6. I'm simply looking to buy some time while I figure out what I want to do about his threat of Nxc3, with a discovered attack on Nf3. The truth be told I didn't really have any great plan up my sleeve. I'm going to have to either move my knight or play my king to g2.<br />
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The kid reaches for the knight and then pulls his hand away. He reaches for it again, and pulls his hand back again. I keep thinking to myself "He's got to see the pin which is why he's hesitating." The reality is he's totally missed the pin and is probably trying to figure out where the trap is after <i>30...Nxc3, 31. bxc3 Qxf3.</i> Finally he plays the move 30...Nxc3?? I stop the clock and tell him he's made an illegal move. I know the rules about illegal moves and touching opponent's pieces. However I decided I would let the tournament director explain the rule to him. I get the tournament director and point out what happened. He asked me if my opponent touched my bishop. I said "Yes. He took the bishop with his knight and pressed the clock." The director informed him that he would have to capture my bishop. The problem is the only legal capture is with the queen. The kid was rather upset and immediately resigned. I'll give him credit for that. At least he didn't make me play the position out to mate.<br />
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Afterward I saw the director in the hallway, and he said in all the years he's directed that's the first time he's had a situation like that. Most of the time there's been no legal capture or if there has been it hasn't been so devastating. It wasn't the prettiest way to win, but a win is a win.<br />
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Here are a few pictures from the gimmick contest.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOoJuSoLHjopxVD35ZztCP0VBHTPTu6SkMLN4eAIEHFlhzlnUi74nomh7slDith9YKLPqlPBTv80PpVLde9rM-s-WZmljzDGmPBIbVQVrvfkZIxUMcrylz1VtG_SBGaU3UR-HWPlnbYno/s1600/USATE+21713+9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOoJuSoLHjopxVD35ZztCP0VBHTPTu6SkMLN4eAIEHFlhzlnUi74nomh7slDith9YKLPqlPBTv80PpVLde9rM-s-WZmljzDGmPBIbVQVrvfkZIxUMcrylz1VtG_SBGaU3UR-HWPlnbYno/s320/USATE+21713+9.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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<b>Alice in Wonderland theme with the red king and queen. </b></div>
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<b>Along with the white queen and the Mad hatter. (2nd place)</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT93hf1E3jNlvqvhmP3Le2kz92sSlMT8SPvp-Crv6QuQ2Bm434gnupi4NeW6RuPiyIAHt6ugxuiPGDC7VAdW5JiUKQxcFLt2ftWNo8uLGiqv8-JBicu3cRmyOQWt3NCgCXqTnY2DgUOm4/s1600/USATE+21713+15.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT93hf1E3jNlvqvhmP3Le2kz92sSlMT8SPvp-Crv6QuQ2Bm434gnupi4NeW6RuPiyIAHt6ugxuiPGDC7VAdW5JiUKQxcFLt2ftWNo8uLGiqv8-JBicu3cRmyOQWt3NCgCXqTnY2DgUOm4/s320/USATE+21713+15.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b>Knights of the Roman Forum (1st place)</b></div>
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One match left to go. We're 3-2. We'll probably get paired up again. I have no idea what's happening at the other end of the ballroom where the serious games are happening. I'm don't know how many perfect scores there are. I'm a little too tired to care. That's the problem when recovering from the flu. I'm preserving what strength I have for my games, such as they are.Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13747958243702670987noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5114234807276194338.post-49194906836481010822013-02-15T23:02:00.000-05:002013-02-15T23:03:20.101-05:00Goodbye Thursday Night CracktionLast night was a sad occasion in the annuls of chess in New York City. Steve Immitt held his last "4 Rated Games Tonight" at the New Yorker Hotel. Known as "America's Longest Running Action Tournament!" it had been going on since 1987. I guess like a good Broadway show, it closes sooner or later. Hopefully like many a great Broadway show, there will be a revival of Steve's action show.<br />
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I wish I could say that I had one more good chapter to add to Polly's Thursday follies, but alas a nasty case of the flu caused me to miss closing night. Unfortunately when one teaches chess to kids there's not only the risk of being exposed to bad chess playing, but the risk of being exposed to cooties of the worst kind. All the hand-washing and flu shots could not save me from this nasty bug. Who knows if it was the kindergarten kid who kept coughing in my face despite my pleading with him to cover his mouth, or the 2nd grader that kept putting the pieces near his face who gave me this lovely flu. All I know is that it's been a lousy week, made worse by missing Steve's last Thursday tournament.<br />
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As of this <a href="http://castlingqueenside.blogspot.com/2009/05/saturday-sadistics-statistics.html" target="_blank">statistics</a> post written on May 2, 2009 I had played 790 games in Thursday night "cracktion" events. I've never gotten around to updating those numbers with the games played since I made that post, but my guess would be that I probably played another 300 to 400 games in the event. A new reader might ask why I refer to the event as "cracktion". Considering how many games I played in that particular tournament one can see that despite how bad it might be for one's game it's like crack. Very addicting.<br />
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Many of the games were entertaining, although at times for the totally wrong reason. At other times the stories behind the games were very entertaining. There were many colorful characters that I encountered over the years. Some them I encountered all in one <a href="http://castlingqueenside.blogspot.com/2009/05/they-all-flew-over-marshall-nest.html" target="_blank">night</a>. If nothing else the tournaments provided me with a lot of the material used for this blog. Perhaps that's why I haven't been writing much because I haven't played in the tournament much in the last year. Actually that's not really the case. Much of 2012 was spent focusing on getting my 2nd degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do. The feat was accomplished in November. Preparing for that test was more stressful then having one second on my clock in a winning position.<br />
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With that out of the way, there may be more time for blogging and playing chess. Time will tell. Tomorrow I'm off to Parsippany for my 33rd US Amateur Team - East tournament. I get a break from getting hammered on board one this year. I'll be playing board two with most of the usual suspects from my chess club. I'm not sure how much of a break it will be. My post-flu track record at chess tournaments isn't so good. As Alfred E Neuman would say "Who me worry?" I may skip a US Open or New York State Championship here and there, but the USATE is another story. I still regret skipping it in 1991 otherwise I'd have a very impressive streak of consecutive years played. Though 22 years in a row isn't too shabby.<br />
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Stay tuned.Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13747958243702670987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5114234807276194338.post-33607567401800479922012-04-06T16:02:00.000-04:002014-02-15T01:31:11.320-05:00It's Been a Ferry Long TimePolly's chess traveling road show is on it's way. I've made my 3rd annual appearance at the <a href="http://grandpacificopen.pbworks.com/w/page/15387541/FrontPage" target="_blank">Grand Pacific Open</a> in Victoria, British Columbia. I debated whether or not I wanted to go. I've not been playing much chess this year. My addiction to Thursday Night Cracktion has ceased for the time being. I did made my 36th appearance at the USATE where I played some really crappy chess on Saturday and Sunday. I only redeemed myself with two wins on Monday. I don't know if I was too embarrassed or just plain fed up to even blog about the tournament.<br />
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Off on a tangent there. Back to resuming my travels. Despite my life being filled with non-chess things such as cycling and Tae Kwon Do, I decided I missed the enjoyment of getting away for awhile and playing a little chess. If all else fails, I know I will enjoy seeing old friends and meeting some new ones.<br />
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<b>Plane to see, Polly's leaving on a jet plane.</b></div>
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I flew to Seattle yesterday, via Chicago. For a change I got out to Seattle in the early evening instead of the middle of the night. By the time I got to my hotel my body was telling me it was 10:30 pm, but it was only 7:30. I couldn't exactly go to bed. Also I've been participating in the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/100-Days-Challenge/177540202277120" target="_blank">100 Day Challenge</a>. This challenge simply is doing some sort of exercise for at least 30 minutes a day. I don't count wandering around airport terminals as real exercise. Yesterday I had not done any real exercise, so I took a nice walk in Seattle. I carried my little point and shoot camera with me. Damn, some of these pictures are as good as some of the ones I take with my fancy DSLR.<br />
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<b>Space Needle</b></div>
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<b>Seattle City skyline at night.</b></div>
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Today I had a very uneventful ferry ride from Seattle to Victoria. Thankfully no <a href="http://castlingqueenside.blogspot.ca/2010/04/taking-no-boat-from-seattle.html" target="_blank">detours</a> like two years ago. I sat with friends I had met last year at the tournament. It's a bit colder this year since Easter is earlier this year. I did not spent quite so much time on the outside deck taking pictures.</div>
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<b>Snow Capped Mountains</b></div>
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<b> Baby, it's cold outside!</b></div>
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Not the best shot I've had taken of me. I didn't even bother to look to see if the picture was any good or not. It's one of my classic closed eyes shots that usually would be rejected and retaken until my eyes are open. However I didn't want to make the kind stranger do another shot.</div>
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I'm enjoying the quiet of my hotel room at the moment. The lobby is overflowing with little chess playing munchkins. They have a kids event before the main event starts this evening. Canadian scholastic events aren't much different then United States events. Lots of kids running around and frazzled parents near by.</div>
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My first game is at 6:00 pm. I've got a few hours to kill before hand. I suppose I could do some tactics on Shredder. Nah! The sun is out. Time to take a walk!!</div>
Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13747958243702670987noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5114234807276194338.post-7084831033983625932012-01-14T00:34:00.000-05:002012-01-14T00:34:40.803-05:00My Last Blunder of 2011....did not occur on December 31st. I passed on my usual New Year's Eve "cracktion" fix at "Your Last Blunder of ____". That's because I had to make a choice between chess and cycling. After several years hiatus, I've renewed my passion for cycling. Before I started writing this chess blog, I wrote a triathlon/ cycling log. <a href="http://nytrigal.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Still Tri-ing After All These Years</a>. A number of things led to my lack of enthusiasm for cycling and doing triathlons. It's a long story that I don't want to bore you with. Chess and Tae Kwon Do filled up a lot of the time I used to devote to cycling and triathlons. <br />
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I started cycling again this spring with the idea of simply improving my physical conditioning for Tae Kwon Do and chess. I never thought I would get back to the cycling condition I was in back in 2005, but I have. It's been gratifying to know that six years older I could still ride fast. So with the temperature being the 50s on December 31st, I chose to go riding with my weekend training group.<br />
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In my last post I referred to the light at the end of the tunnel. It wasn't a train coming the other direction culminating in one of my infamous train wreck stories. I finally got my rating back over 1800 for the first time since 1996. I had two good tournaments in a row. I went 3-0 in one tournament to go from 1703 to 1774. Three days later I played at the Marshall Chess Club and finally broke my 14 game losing steak at the club. I got an even score and jumped from 1774 to 1810.<br />
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It would have been nice to end 2011 with my rating at 1810, unfortunately the following week there was an odd number at my club and I had to put myself into the tournament. It was one of those nights where I did not feel like playing. I was tired, and admittedly I think I wanted to sit on my 1800 rating for awhile. I started out with two horrible games where I got smashed. I thought to myself "Here we go again. Back to playing like an idiot." However in the last round I managed to redeem myself with this entertaining game. <br />
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It wasn't a brilliant game, but it at least stopped the bleeding of rating points. I dropped 19 points to end 2011 at 1791. Not a bad finish considering miserable my record was for most of 2011. I did recoup a few points in my first tournament of 2012. I didn't play any more games before the cut off for the February rating list so my published rating will be 1796. I don't plan to play in any under 1800 sections any time soon. In fact I'm not even playing in an Under 1900 section any time soon. <br />
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I'm off to Philadelphia on Saturday afternoon to play in the Liberty Bell Open. Like last year I'm planning to play in the Under 2100 section. I can't make it down in time to play all the rounds of the three day schedule. Instead of subjecting myself to the insanity of playing 4 games at game/35 in the two day schedule on Sunday, I'm taking byes for the first two rounds and then playing five rounds at the more civilized time control of 40/2 SD/1. Even though I've had some good results at the faster time controls, I'm looking forward to having time to really think. <br />
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Stay tuned.Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13747958243702670987noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5114234807276194338.post-6746585721359323052011-12-18T00:31:00.000-05:002013-02-15T19:11:10.578-05:00Light At The End of The TunnelI told you it wouldn't be three months before you would hear from me again. In fact it's actually less then three weeks. When I last posted I was bemoaning the fact that I seemed to have totally forgotten how play the game. From September 12th to December 1st I made it down to the Marshall Chess Club four times to play in the Thursday Night "cracktion" tournament, otherwise known as "Four Rated Games Tonight!" or once a month "10 Grand Prix Points Tonight!" I played a total of 13 games, and I won a total of <b>zero</b> games. Yep, you read that correctly. Zero wins! 13 losses! Not a draw in sight. Most of the games were miserable games where I got a lousy position early on and get crushed either very quickly or slowly grounded down. <br />
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If anyone is half-way decent at math he might notice that 4 rated games tonight x 4 = 16. So what happened to the other 3 games? One night I opted for the pre-emptive last round bye since I was the lowest rated player and didn't want to deal with possibly getting a bye in round 2 or 3. The other two times, I dropped out so I could make an earlier train. What happened to the woman who refused to drop out when having a bad tournament? She left the building in disgust. One night I resigned after dropping a pawn early because I didn't feel like playing out a long drawn out game down a pawn. Instead I made the 10:32 train. That's two hours earlier then if I stayed and played the last round.<br />
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On that early train ride home I seriously started asking myself "Why are you doing this? You spend $11 on train fare, another $4.50 on the subway, and a $25 entry fee. Why travel into Manhattan to get abused over the chess board? You can stay home and play Monday evenings in White Plains. So why?"<br />
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I concluded there were several reasons why I needed those trips to the Marshall Chess Club. I don't need them every week like I was doing the last few years. I needed them at least once a month to remind myself what it's like to see and attempt to play real chess. I need to spend time hanging out with chess players over the age 30. When one spends her days teaching chess to kindergartners, first and second graders after awhile it's easy to forget what real chess is. The other big reason to go to the Marshall is, I'm not in charge. I don't have to deal with the players whining about which ratings are being used, or why they got two blacks in a row, or one player calling another player an @$$ #%!*. I can simply show up, pay my entry fee and let Steve deal with the knuckleheads.<br />
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It's been a strange year for me chess wise. I skipped the US Open and the New York State Championships for the first time in years. I spent Labor day weekend in San Diego celebrating my niece's 30th birthday. I could have played in the Southern California Labor Day weekend tournament. It was in San Diego. I actually contemplated playing the two day schedule, but decided just hanging out with my nieces and nephew would be be more fun. After my last trip in October with my sisters, I decided I had taken enough plane flights. There was nowhere I wanted to go. The thought briefly entered my mind to find a state that I haven't played in, but that will have to wait. I'm stuck at 26 and counting.<br />
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Although I'm doing a lot of non-chess activity. I've gone back to riding my bike and contemplating a triathlon comeback for next year. I'm working towards my Second Dan Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do. That also will probably come next year. <br />
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I will end this post by sharing a game played a few Mondays ago. It was another case of muddling through the opening and trying to hang on for dear life as my opponent tried to attack the crap out me from the Black side. On that particular night I ended every game with one or less seconds on my clock. Unfortunately it's not a complete score sheet, but I do have a diagram of the final position. Don't ask me how we got to that position from where the notation stopped.<br />
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Having survived an unsound sac with one second on my clock, I managed to bang out another who knows how more moves to arrive at this final position. A flurry of rook and queen checks allowed me to arrive at this lovely finish.<br />
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Despite going down to the Marshall that same week and losing another three games, I felt perhaps there was a little fight left me. Also knowing why I wanted to be there helped make peace with the inner demons who ask "Why bother?"<br />
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The answer to "Why Bother?" came in a most surprising manner. Stay tuned....Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13747958243702670987noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5114234807276194338.post-34255518599976141002011-12-03T00:52:00.000-05:002011-12-03T00:52:02.600-05:00Chess?!Let's see, I think I remember that game. That's the one with the little horsey that moves in an L shape and can jump over other pieces, right? Bishops are the pointy headed guys that move diagonal, and rooks are those castle like things that move straight? The queen can move like the castle and pointy headed guy? The king...that's the piece that can't get captured? Then there's those round headed guys that cheat because they move one way and capture another way. Pawns? Okay I've got my games squared away.<br />
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Sometimes I feel like I've totally forgotten how to play chess. I know how the pieces move, but lately I just don't know what to do with them. Have I been overexposed to six year old kids that no matter how many times I tell them only knights can jump, still move bishops without moving any pawns? Maybe it's the kid who no matter how many times I tell him to move the e or d pawn first, insists on playing 1. h4 followed by 2. Rh2. I suppose it's fitting that I lost last night to someone who opened 1. a4. I think he really wanted to be black so he wasted a move to let me be "white". Not that I can blame him. The two games I played as white were just butt ass ugly. Maybe he figured he have an easier time against me if he just tossed the tempo and pretended to be "black". I didn't disappoint. I tossed the exchange on move 23, and by move 25 managed to turn my disadvantage into a full rook.<br />
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Right now I'm wrestling with what I want from chess. I've got some ideas. I think I finally figured out why I subject myself to trips to New City to get smashed by experts and A players on Thursday nights. More on my midnight musings on Metro North in my next post. Yes there will be a next post, and it won't take another 3 months for it to appear. I just wanted get a few words out to let people know, I am amongst the living.Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13747958243702670987noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5114234807276194338.post-41309166002717821532011-09-16T23:55:00.000-04:002011-09-16T23:55:17.792-04:00In Case You Were Wondering..........where my blog posts on the US Open are, there aren't any. It's not because I didn't feel like writing about my usual US Open agony. There was no US Open agony because instead of agonizing over whether or not I should take a bye in round 7 after cramming in six games on Thursday and Friday, I was doing this....<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihEXk66t5nTrw56IXGvi-Ov4-zrmCNGTCP-3bg-JHYaNoywGTQj1J2t24Yp50ho55hd2wuCkTSOzxxmfD7ZNbsKlAa4LmtA4TAdw8SNs0CF9QCP0GZS8dDMNNi3gKvyGUap1JJI1cFZh0/s1600/IMG_6677.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320px" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihEXk66t5nTrw56IXGvi-Ov4-zrmCNGTCP-3bg-JHYaNoywGTQj1J2t24Yp50ho55hd2wuCkTSOzxxmfD7ZNbsKlAa4LmtA4TAdw8SNs0CF9QCP0GZS8dDMNNi3gKvyGUap1JJI1cFZh0/s320/IMG_6677.jpg" width="213px" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><b>Celebrating Uncle Charlie's 90th birthday</b></div><br />
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Instead of spending Saturday and Sunday trapped inside sitting in delegates meetings I was doing this...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLY8H2A8dEaEAN0Ei9snHKbDDE4VcSIUXcyn297h56q0N1ury3gJdF1WcYr_AbctIAC4ypqaZdZLzNNgeHmfPkA3yUuQ0N_MrkR0afB-ilWZsq0RwOxH5TxmAMTxT181f_kCzxH_2HYIg/s1600/IMG_7136.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213px" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLY8H2A8dEaEAN0Ei9snHKbDDE4VcSIUXcyn297h56q0N1ury3gJdF1WcYr_AbctIAC4ypqaZdZLzNNgeHmfPkA3yUuQ0N_MrkR0afB-ilWZsq0RwOxH5TxmAMTxT181f_kCzxH_2HYIg/s320/IMG_7136.JPG" width="320px" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Swimming in Lake Massiwhippy</div>And this...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixy0PBsBdi4Vl4eKrfQa5lJsb-xWqfAvS96-nLmmV9mG2nGuTfSo1zSNusCQaQ4iHHhpiENgGjaNgFl7DFH92G3UABG-VS-R-YPfLF-z9DFkQKwNhhMB6JY9XnmRV-johsFjY0K8hxhuQ/s1600/IMG_7118.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213px" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixy0PBsBdi4Vl4eKrfQa5lJsb-xWqfAvS96-nLmmV9mG2nGuTfSo1zSNusCQaQ4iHHhpiENgGjaNgFl7DFH92G3UABG-VS-R-YPfLF-z9DFkQKwNhhMB6JY9XnmRV-johsFjY0K8hxhuQ/s320/IMG_7118.JPG" width="320px" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Listening to jazz on Sunday afternoon. </div><br />
The only agonizing had been in May when I found out my Uncle Charlie's 90th birthday celebration was going to be the same weekend as the US Open. There really wasn't that much agonizing. Let's see.... Orlando, Florida or North Hatley, Canada in August? Let's see... Sitting in a hotel at the Orlando airport for 5 days playing chess and attending meetings, or spending 4 days at a charming inn in Canada on a beautiful lake hanging out with family and friends.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMSQbPySH6CI7XdMMZZHq-oULSv-x9N1Wicvv_6LyPEjmghHbWpar4rnyhm44nY4JHqWLiT4TUP1aVoenqADjTahOB4jeh6OSdzXX2l5WwtDbrA6t2ct3zrDf4WiTWgxQ7sLpxQ_-00dY/s1600/IMG_7176.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213px" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMSQbPySH6CI7XdMMZZHq-oULSv-x9N1Wicvv_6LyPEjmghHbWpar4rnyhm44nY4JHqWLiT4TUP1aVoenqADjTahOB4jeh6OSdzXX2l5WwtDbrA6t2ct3zrDf4WiTWgxQ7sLpxQ_-00dY/s320/IMG_7176.JPG" width="320px" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2lnWYvFvR2DLaO1EBq195huSnXGwPVTEY1FAOC2vIT2JDBfmur7TuvDcWo4JOyPqtL5PMojg1eSDWhbpFaGzFmCTpDx4otfHtPFh7D6dX5RlzW-mBWVevqD2IeAW3ysO_2N24Zx9a5QI/s1600/IMG_7167.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320px" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2lnWYvFvR2DLaO1EBq195huSnXGwPVTEY1FAOC2vIT2JDBfmur7TuvDcWo4JOyPqtL5PMojg1eSDWhbpFaGzFmCTpDx4otfHtPFh7D6dX5RlzW-mBWVevqD2IeAW3ysO_2N24Zx9a5QI/s320/IMG_7167.jpg" width="213px" /></a></div>Yes dear readers, I do have a life outside of chess. The US Open comes around once a year. A 90th birthday only comes around once in the person's lifetime. That's assuming he or she lasts that long. Sadly I did not get to celebrate a 90th birthday for either of my parents, so when I still have relatives who reach that milestone it's worth traveling far away from the chess scene to celebrate with them.<br />
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In case you think this is just a filler piece while I work on my New York State Championship posts, let me set the record straight. You'll have to wait until 2012 at the earliest for my next report on the New York State Championship. That's because when I was in Canada with my sister, I decided I would spend Labor Day weekend in San Diego with her, instead of in her empty house in Albany while playing in the state championship. <br />
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This was the summer of all things not chess. I played at my club here and there. I made a token appearance at the Marshall for Thursday cracktion. Almost a year later I played Black against <a href="http://castlingqueenside.blogspot.com/2010/09/from-monday-madness-to-thankless.html">Scot Mc Elheny</a> again. Although the result was the same, it was a much longer game. Maybe this should be filed under Freaky Friday.<br />
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Alas summer chess vacation is over. I direct my first scholastic tournament this weekend, and I start teaching my first chess classes next week. Last night I showed my face at the Marshall once again. I think they wondered if I was still alive. Rumors of my chess death are greatly exaggerated. Expect to see more blog posts as I try to figure out if I really can play this infernal game called chess.Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13747958243702670987noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5114234807276194338.post-51376815579891982052011-07-07T18:53:00.000-04:002011-07-07T18:53:24.142-04:00On the Road, but Not for Chess!I leave shortly for Brussels in about an hour. No great chess plans on the agenda though one of my readers did give me a few suggestions of chess cafes. One I've been to on my last trip to Amsterdam, and I was not successful in getting any games. Maybe this time I'll have better luck if I visit there again.<br />
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A lot has happened in the chess world that I was not part of. I skipped this year's Thursday Night Action Championship. I was in no mood to deal with the <a href="http://castlingqueenside.blogspot.com/2010/06/thursday-night-championship-killer-kidz.html">angst</a> of which section to play in. The previous Thursday got me fed up with chess. I realize I'm not going to improve until I do some work on my game. Right now I don't feel like working on my game. I have too much else going on. Read this <a href="http://nytrigal.blogspot.com/2011/07/one-year-laterim-melting.html">post</a> at my other blog and you'll understand.<br />
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The week before I went down to the Marshall for Thursday's 4 Rated Games Tonight! It had been a month since I last played down there. I figured I should show my face before people thought I had died. Since Josh and dad weren't going I had to take the train down to Grand Central and then catch the subway down to Greenwich Village. $5.95 for the train and $2.25 for the subway each way. On top of that there's the $25 entry fee. $16.40 + $25 = $41.40 for an evening of "entertainment".<br />
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My evening's entertainment featured getting smacked around in round 1 by a 2100. In between rounds I got into a bit of a heated discussion with a player who had dropped out a tournament at my club. I wasn't the director that night. When I run tournaments at my club I either play or don't play depending on whether it's odd or even. I can either put myself in if the number is odd or take myself out to keep it even. I was rather annoyed that he withdrew that night because it caused the number to be odd so someone got a bye. I was even more annoyed that it was him because I had put a rule in requiring players over 1900 to play all the rounds. I did that because this particular player ended out getting a bye in the last round when a kid took a bye in the last round. He was pissed off because he wanted to play all 3 rounds. I let him know that I did not like the fact that he dropped out of the tournament causing someone to get a bye. <br />
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He took offense at my criticizing him for dropping out. This was not the first time we've exchanged words under not such nice circumstances. So what happens? I have to play him in the next round. I hate when I have to play someone who I've had a dispute with. It just makes things a little uncomfortable. Outside of the perfunctory hand shake and "good luck" at the beginning nothing else was said. The game did not get off to a great start. I managed to lose the exchange early. However some how I managed to battle back and draw the game, but not before losing a piece. That part of the game did not get recorded because we both had seconds left on our clock.<br />
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Here's the game.<br />
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I was happy to pull out the draw under those circumstances. Yes it would have been nice to beat the guy, but a draw against a higher rated player was also acceptable. Round 3 I got paired up again and lost. I was also paired up in round 4. That game was particularly annoying because the opponent gave up a pawn early. It didn't seem like he was getting any huge jump in development from the pawn gambit. In fact I felt I had an excellent position with passed a and b pawns. Somehow I let the position slip away and he got all kinds of counter play and went on to win.<br />
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Here is that game:<br />
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<span><script type="text/javascript">
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<br />
For $41.40 I got to lose three games, draw one, lose another 13 rating points and get into an argument. Who needs that crap? On the train ride back I realized that I'm making myself crazy with this kind of play. I'm making the same mistakes out of the opening and I'm missing simple tactics. Why do I need to do this to myself? Until I invest some time into my game things aren't going to change. The time limit isn't necessarily the issue. Many of the mistakes are coming before the clock is a factor. <br />
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I decided unless I'm getting a ride down to the Marshall I'm not going to play.<br />
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To be continued....Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13747958243702670987noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5114234807276194338.post-88822541581168360882011-06-24T17:01:00.001-04:002011-06-25T16:23:23.358-04:00Reflections on Deflection<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>I mentioned in my last post about my two wins in Fremont using the same tactic. In a rather different style of posting for me, I'm going to do an instructional post. Lately my games have been rather blah. I fumble through the opening, muddle through the middle game, and depending on how I survived the middle game, I may or may not been able to hold the position for a win or draw. It's been rather depressing to watch my games unfold in a similar pattern game after game. It's also been rather boring. I really need to shake up my chess if I want to get out of this rut I've been in. However at the moment I'm not overwhelmingly motivated to do so. Perhaps a separate post on life as a "Jack of all trades, master of none" is in order, but I digress.<br />
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For the entire month of April I did not play one single game of "cracktion". Every single game I played in April was at a time limit of G/85 or slower. I played in the Bob Peretz Chess Club Championship and the Westchester Chess Club Championship. The latter just finished a couple of weeks ago. Sad to say it was nothing like the <a href="http://castlingqueenside.blogspot.com/2009/06/westchester-chess-club-championship.html">2009 championship</a>. Losing rounds 5 and 6 to the two guys who who end out as co-champions did not help matters.<br />
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In mid-May I ventured down to the Marshall Chess Club for the weekly "cracktion" tournament. In the first round I was paired against IM Ilye Figler. This was my 13th game against him and like 11 of my previous encounters with him, I lost. My only draw with him was back in 1997. He got the IM title last year at the NY International at the tender age of 63. Yes there is hope for those who are not under rated little munchkins. I felt like I was holding my own out of the opening. However things fell apart after I played the rather insipid move of 15...c6. Looking back at the game I don't even remember why I played the move. Was I afraid of 16. d5? More to the point, was it one of those <i>"I don't know what to do so I'll just make a random pawn move and see what happens"</i> moments?<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj89Getgjokn1cq9by0dSeV7jpO9a1CxS6-sVY8MdVllPJFKzaWmqsuV7OrCtIgIQgwmb55Ble9FGLyg_ByyoFT_598fcMPld_Hhcx8h3OhhEVGA6oQJHRE7ieGsblgFNOqoealUrCvKiE/s1600/if-pw51211.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320px" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj89Getgjokn1cq9by0dSeV7jpO9a1CxS6-sVY8MdVllPJFKzaWmqsuV7OrCtIgIQgwmb55Ble9FGLyg_ByyoFT_598fcMPld_Hhcx8h3OhhEVGA6oQJHRE7ieGsblgFNOqoealUrCvKiE/s320/if-pw51211.jpg" width="320px" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><b>Position after 15...c6?</b></div><br />
I totally missed <b>16. Bxh6!</b> I chose not to play <i>16...gxh6</i> allowing <i>17. Rxf6</i>. I felt if I was going to play down a pawn against an IM I should keep the pawns around my king somewhat intact so I opted to play <b>16...Nh5</b>, a move that would have been better then c6. The game continued <b>17.Bf4 Nxg3 18.Bxg3 Rad8 19.Rae1 Bh5 20.e5 Bg6 21.Bxg6 Nxg6 22. e6</b> to reach the position below.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8LEdm8jugIMdl8PMS9lbOoelVjzews1Q8mrD01ufLXYuGNQ9ypChfi9QRSyGexDu75HLp9VIoU94v9CSvrIV0cYjAh1EDCCUWRmeknDBqGaSFZkNAmvI1-PXg4InR4RFksvpZMwnwrn0/s1600/if-pwmove22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320px" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8LEdm8jugIMdl8PMS9lbOoelVjzews1Q8mrD01ufLXYuGNQ9ypChfi9QRSyGexDu75HLp9VIoU94v9CSvrIV0cYjAh1EDCCUWRmeknDBqGaSFZkNAmvI1-PXg4InR4RFksvpZMwnwrn0/s320/if-pwmove22.jpg" width="320px" /></a></div><br />
I guess I didn't get quite get the tactical idea of deflection down the first time so I foolishly accepted the pawn he offered. <b>22...fxe6? 23.Qxg6 Qd5 24.Be5 Rd7 25.Rxf8+ Kxf8 26.Rf1+ Kg8 27.Qe8+ Kh7 28.Rf8 Black resigns.</b><br />
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Many a wise chess teacher has said "Learn from your mistakes." This not so wise chess teacher has told her students the same thing. Do I always follow my own advice? We won't go there. However I did manage to use this very same tactic, not once but twice a few weeks later.<br />
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In the first round of <a href="http://bayareachess.com/events/11/528sp.php">CalChess State Championship</a> I got paired against the first of four opponents under the age of 13 that I would face over the weekend. She was only 8 years old. She played very solidly and I had to wonder if I was going to cough up a 1/2 point in the very first round. I had played 27...Nf4 with the idea playing 28...Nxh3 if she didn't play 28. Kh2 or moving the knight. She played 28. a4 to reach the position below. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrZ3TLefvVoAu61fhLS57PMKKv8NYqqmXtOc6jNHE-p_280-fGw9fOWDaI57z4fsfnzY2Kbt6JNUkpBe4MGC28RBnLlmLFdBKe3LY7kWf4uQHDsht0JGxGULdgqRpGuN9cs5P5KIDnxzI/s1600/jl-pw52811.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320px" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrZ3TLefvVoAu61fhLS57PMKKv8NYqqmXtOc6jNHE-p_280-fGw9fOWDaI57z4fsfnzY2Kbt6JNUkpBe4MGC28RBnLlmLFdBKe3LY7kWf4uQHDsht0JGxGULdgqRpGuN9cs5P5KIDnxzI/s320/jl-pw52811.jpg" width="320px" /></a></div><br />
I took my time to make sure there was no counter play if I took the pawn on h3. Noting that I'm taking with check and can retreat to f4 afterward I play 28...Nxh3+. I'm up a pawn, but I still had a lot of work ahead of me. Just like I did in the Bob Peretz Club Championship, I had to grind out a rook and pawn ending. She offered me several draws which I turned down. She was going to have to prove to me that she could hold the ending. She couldn't hold and finally on move 65 I mated her in a queen and king ending.<br />
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I could have mated her on move 64, but I think I was fixated on avoiding stalemates and missed both moves that mate in the position below.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj-pJACHOFVyIk08NPqs5VX5j8LgTIapIumzs5EaSBHOwx-yrpvbN49-O_1AMFFeXFvt578cB4hZboq66x9aRCNG7P26wp_Q0cY90MBiRtcTRPJDdA8gjZxkmRv-L3SorwODToY_jrXZE/s1600/jl-pw+missed+mate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320px" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj-pJACHOFVyIk08NPqs5VX5j8LgTIapIumzs5EaSBHOwx-yrpvbN49-O_1AMFFeXFvt578cB4hZboq66x9aRCNG7P26wp_Q0cY90MBiRtcTRPJDdA8gjZxkmRv-L3SorwODToY_jrXZE/s320/jl-pw+missed+mate.jpg" width="320px" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Black to move. Mate in one.</b></div><br />
I missed 64...Qe2# and 64...Qc1#. Instead I played 64...Qc2. 65. Kf1 Qf2#. Good thing there wasn't a 50 move rule claim in the making. That would have been very embarrassing. <br />
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The next two games would two exercises in ugliness. The total number of moves in the two games combined was less then the number of moves played in the first round. Since neither game falls into the theme of this post I'm not bothering to show them. <br />
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In round 4 I finally get to play someone who may actually be older then me. If I had added up the ages of my first 3 opponents and multiplied by 2 the total might have come close to my age.<br />
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Once again I came across a position where I could take a "protected" pawn for free. We reached the following position after Black played <b>25...Re8</b>. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1Dbfc2A1t806o0mYQwItNGDler1UwwUSp1FNEanws5WO0uXf6ajOzNROjH2Szdj1bSh2D4lrWydIJaaAcPZs1DV0OfbIXTJxM6qxG_xlojiIHi_YZduQRd2Gw3zBDs3FkXl1sEHOMhlk/s1600/pw-ar52911.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320px" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1Dbfc2A1t806o0mYQwItNGDler1UwwUSp1FNEanws5WO0uXf6ajOzNROjH2Szdj1bSh2D4lrWydIJaaAcPZs1DV0OfbIXTJxM6qxG_xlojiIHi_YZduQRd2Gw3zBDs3FkXl1sEHOMhlk/s320/pw-ar52911.jpg" width="320px" /></a></div><br />
Once again an advanced h pawn was just begging to be taken. The position was very similar to the one from the first round. However there were a few differences. First, there were a lot more pieces on the board. Second, at first glance it appears Black can counter with 26...Nfxd5. In reality there is no counter play for Black because moving the knight off of f6 opens up the long diagonal for White's queen. I played <b>26. Bxh6</b> expecting the game to continue <i>26...gxh6 27</i>. Qxf6 and then face a long grind trying to convert the pawn advantage. Much to my surprise Black countered with <b>26...Nfxd5??</b> I had to double check and make sure I wasn't imagining things with the move <b>27. Qxg7#</b> Yes it really was mate. For a change I would be the beneficiary of a very short game.<br />
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I would like to say that winning in such a manner inspired me to go 2-0 on Monday and limit the damage of my rocky 2-2 start. Monday morning I started off by hanging a pawn on move 7 because I reversed the move order. 41 moves later I squeezed out a draw against my young under rated opponent. Round 6 I still could salvage a plus 1 or even score with a win or a draw. Unfortunately I was done in by White's very active rooks and the game came to an abrupt end with my playing 40...Kh8? in the following position.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinKDN3j7MifU4U1kiHopV1bYLyDvUKTxZxTNeMMMHPKzi7Ytnq2hEsEweDltg0b6WJ9ljvGN2bhs67xLwi7Wzb9hoZRVA6XpetFegStaTvjnyHoccePgxioQTxQ1KNRdX3yfQ48llqN5c/s1600/rm-pw53011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320px" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinKDN3j7MifU4U1kiHopV1bYLyDvUKTxZxTNeMMMHPKzi7Ytnq2hEsEweDltg0b6WJ9ljvGN2bhs67xLwi7Wzb9hoZRVA6XpetFegStaTvjnyHoccePgxioQTxQ1KNRdX3yfQ48llqN5c/s320/rm-pw53011.jpg" width="320px" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>After 40...Kh8? White has mate in 1.</b></div><br />
I presume my readers can do a better job of finding the mate then I did. I suppose the bright side of getting mated on move 41 was not having to try to hold the position after 40...Kf8 41. Rxg6.<br />
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The one thing I learned from this tournament is play up a section. Northern California has even more under rated kids then Southern California. However Northern California chess parents aren't <a href="http://castlingqueenside.blogspot.com/2009/05/rd-4-lost-in-translation-part-1.html">psychotic</a> like some of the Southern California chess parents I've encountered.<br />
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That's it for my chess travels for the time being. My next trip will be with the chess widower of my life. We cashed in a bunch of frequent flier miles and will be spending time in Belgium and Netherlands. Perhaps my Belgium readers can steer me to a chess cafe in Brussels or Bruge.Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13747958243702670987noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5114234807276194338.post-41421204246921866222011-06-09T17:03:00.000-04:002011-06-09T17:03:59.879-04:00Where Do I Start?Let's see since I got back from Victoria I've had my hands full. I got back on Tuesday April 26th. On Saturday April 30th we had our school's big Tae Twon Do tournament where I was competing in several events and also taking pictures.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIHWlmYeAx316qHB3Z2u9FHUbBtK9hHPrrezZgLRtVkMGDkGDm7glY9bt8IaRfJiudEiPO8-Fan0rs1zyQwAaTxmTIcWUaHntEaG-Rt7NrzkWTSuyg9UAc59N9_S1DuMXOzrlKTOugjXg/s1600/IMG_2937.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIHWlmYeAx316qHB3Z2u9FHUbBtK9hHPrrezZgLRtVkMGDkGDm7glY9bt8IaRfJiudEiPO8-Fan0rs1zyQwAaTxmTIcWUaHntEaG-Rt7NrzkWTSuyg9UAc59N9_S1DuMXOzrlKTOugjXg/s320/IMG_2937.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Here I am in the forms competition. </b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>A rare moment of a decent side kick.</b></div><br />
The following weekend I traveled to Dallas for the National Elementary Championships. I wasn't coaching or directing. I just decided to go, hang out, possibly play in the Parents & Friends, and visit my uncle and cousin who live in Dallas. As it turned out I ended out getting work once I got down there. I took pictures and would be writing an article for Chess Life for Kids, and I also ended out coaching a private student whose regular coach had his hands full with his team. He asked me if I would work with the kid over the weekend. That worked out well for me, but my relaxing weekend ended out not being so relaxing.<br />
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I barely caught my breath from the weekend in Dallas when I get an email from the editor on Tuesday saying he needed the article that night because his typesetter was going out of the country on Thursday. How the heck was I going to pull off this feat? Normally I have plenty of time to do research, contact parents/coaches, come up with a theme and write the article. I had a flashback to my college days when I was the queen of procrastination. Quite often I would wait until the day before a term paper was due and start writing. I'd be up all night fueled by caffeine laden soda and junk food, and somehow manage to put together a paper that would give me a passing grade. (barely) In this particular case it was not procrastination it was a ultra-short deadline that I wasn't expecting.<br />
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To make a long night short, I pulled it off. I had enough information that I was able to cobble together a story that was a little light on story but loaded with pictures. After spending over an hour trying to write an introductory paragraph I finally gave up. I just started writing about each section and putting in as much information as I could about how each of the championship sections played out. I had some background info and one email address. That was enough to get things going. At 6:00 am Wednesday morning I was able to submit and article and lots of pictures. The article came out in the June issue of <a href="http://www.yudu.com/item/details/339865/Chess-Life-for-Kids-June-2011">Chess Life for Kids</a>. Despite the short turn around time on it, I actually thought it came out pretty well.<br />
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The <a href="http://castlingqueenside.blogspot.com/2011/03/adventures-in-directing-club.html">club championship from hell</a> finally came to an end, but not without more complications. We did have a clear winner, but there were a number of forfeits in round 6 and I ended out withdrawing to keep numbers even after somebody dropped out for round six. Argh! The good news is I picked up 97 rating points. The bad news is that was 3 points short of breaking 1800 for the first time since 1992. The worst news is I gave back 43 of them to under rated kids from Northern California. That tournament was the last of my three trips I made between Easter weekend and Memorial Day weekend.<br />
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That's the short version of how things have been going. I have some interesting games both good and bad. The two games I won in California were won using the same tactic that I lost to a few weeks earlier in New York City. Perhaps I finally managed to learn something from one of my losses.Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13747958243702670987noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5114234807276194338.post-88400223338363858772011-05-03T15:09:00.001-04:002011-05-03T15:12:48.911-04:00Grand Pacific Open - Very Delayed Recap!I'm alive and well despite possible rumors to the contrary. I got back to New York on Tuesday after a rather uneventful flight back from Seattle. However that's the way I like flights to be. The only excitement I like on flights are <a href="http://castlingqueenside.blogspot.com/2010/08/greetings-from-irvine-airline-happy.html">surprise upgrades</a> or meeting someone interesting on the plane. Neither of that happened.<br />
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The ferry ride from Victoria to Seattle was eventful. We mere mortals of the tournament had the pleasure of sharing ride back with tournament winner, WGM Nino Maisuradze. She was leaving from Seattle to head back to France. We had a delightful time talking about the tournament and other things. Nino is originally from the Republic of Georgia. She knows my friend IM Rusudan Goletiani who also was from Georgia. We also celebrated Nino's perfect 6-0 score with a few bottles of wine. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibM8lwDZ7d8OAgvfiP3wgQnekQ3MrrbyUEUOU_dN9Vz0JA8dS7wkx0B6dw6VxxCYROLGIJO9iAy4G-55CyTS9AelfIIzK9gvMldjSR-iKHo8Ov7qld2rrGdbnNROFzfyVCAa7DIPCHDJc/s1600/DSC08849.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibM8lwDZ7d8OAgvfiP3wgQnekQ3MrrbyUEUOU_dN9Vz0JA8dS7wkx0B6dw6VxxCYROLGIJO9iAy4G-55CyTS9AelfIIzK9gvMldjSR-iKHo8Ov7qld2rrGdbnNROFzfyVCAa7DIPCHDJc/s320/DSC08849.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Troy Pendergraft, Hanniegn & Sharon Pitre, Mike Schemm, WGM Nino Maisuradze, and moi.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Cheers!!</div><br />
The second half of my tournament was much like the first half. One win and two losses, so I finished with a 2-4 score. I didn't feel like I played horribly, but I was a little disappointed in how I handled the ending in two of the games I lost. More on my games later.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdw4BkEosI23XCQViN4e773tzHHowcA3Werea51n_mz1GqzaVzMzasphivyU2_35fqw5dvBNX0TXuUdyNgIk0CRGm5ATINvcNmrJnod0YMf2cj5-QCg7v1NRBP-iABPMQ1wlOqgA2uK6U/s1600/IMG_2812.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdw4BkEosI23XCQViN4e773tzHHowcA3Werea51n_mz1GqzaVzMzasphivyU2_35fqw5dvBNX0TXuUdyNgIk0CRGm5ATINvcNmrJnod0YMf2cj5-QCg7v1NRBP-iABPMQ1wlOqgA2uK6U/s320/IMG_2812.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> <b>Organizer Brian Raymer, WGM Nino Maisuradze, Mark S. Dutton, IA</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b> The traditional "Show me the money!" pose.</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div>As to the rest of the winners; The biggest surprise of the tournament was the strong play of 2nd place winner, Loren Brigham Laceste. He scored 5.5. He's an upcoming junior player from Vancouver who came into the event rated 1923. He beat 3 masters including IM Lawrence Day.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiWLrqKVJNRtjP4H-u6XjVAKpA0QfCbQvgD7B2XPMoW9f7cOrrlpSM0-ehvYQV67Y-dSibbHMiIrTuMuX8Q7WgIIoWzeZBVXiK7q8izA_KEujKASs8sp8joVALyERtq8UaCyIqr3dTEFc/s1600/IMG_2810.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiWLrqKVJNRtjP4H-u6XjVAKpA0QfCbQvgD7B2XPMoW9f7cOrrlpSM0-ehvYQV67Y-dSibbHMiIrTuMuX8Q7WgIIoWzeZBVXiK7q8izA_KEujKASs8sp8joVALyERtq8UaCyIqr3dTEFc/s320/IMG_2810.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b> Mark Dutton, IA and Loren Brigham Laceste</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"> The tournament had a number of sponsors including <a href="http://goddesschess.com/">Godesschess</a> who gave $250 for the top five women scorers in the tournament. This was in addition to any other money women players won. The winners of those prizes were:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;">1st: WGM Nino Maisuradze $70 6 points</div><div style="text-align: left;">2nd: WFM Valeria Gansvind $60 4 points<br />
3rd: WCM Alexandra Botez $50 3.5 points<br />
4th: Sarah May $40 3.5 ponts<br />
5th: Alice Xiao $30 3.0 points</div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
Other sponsors included; <a href="http://www.bernardcallebaut.com/users/folder.asp">Chocolaterie Bernard Callebaut</a> who provided the chocolate Easter eggs that were at each board on Easter morning, <a href="http://www.hotelgrandpacific.com/">Hotel Grand Pacific</a> who hosted the event, <a href="http://www.monroi.com/">MonRoi</a> who had live game coverage on their site (you can find my rounds 4-6 games), and <a href="http://www.bardandbanker.com/">Bard and Banker Scottish pub</a> where we had a get together between rounds on Sunday. Also sponsorship was provided by <a href="http://www.imax.com/">Imax Theatre</a>, <a href="http://www.orcaspirit.com/">Orca Spirit</a> and <a href="http://downtownvictoria.ca/">Downtown Victoria Business Association</a>. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
In addition to the 86 player Open section there were an additional 18 players in the Under 1400 section. The Under 1400 section was won by Leo Stokes with a perfect 6-0 score. Complete results of the tournament can be found <a href="http://grandpacificopen.pbworks.com/w/page/39474684/GPO-Results-2011">here</a>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf4OaRbb719pDfO2oNQROKEruJVXjfzplT1BuhDsHZPPNz8x6Irp301xhOMjXCOZv6f33uacEiUTZgpGogDtu2sARLeyxO3oXEJt4EIPG7eOv9sx9ibBgYtQRzto9o372SW9OXvEktYQY/s1600/IMG_2798.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf4OaRbb719pDfO2oNQROKEruJVXjfzplT1BuhDsHZPPNz8x6Irp301xhOMjXCOZv6f33uacEiUTZgpGogDtu2sARLeyxO3oXEJt4EIPG7eOv9sx9ibBgYtQRzto9o372SW9OXvEktYQY/s320/IMG_2798.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Leo Stokes, Under 1400 Champion</b></div><br />
My 2-4 score wasn't worth anything in the tournament, but I scored high in the style department with my chess themed Easter outfit. I won best dressed player.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicGOvmslqVdjPGs5skQ138ud4Ve-Q8X4dm7F4mkheTStfz40nsRXjeGAhOyBsqr8OCq1tNVknmkrhEwnlJaBCAOzfATlejp6PxPjXDDz7kOhXkh2FY_GjE3YZD4Mh2LBVnOqorJUMcLqk/s1600/IMG_2774.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicGOvmslqVdjPGs5skQ138ud4Ve-Q8X4dm7F4mkheTStfz40nsRXjeGAhOyBsqr8OCq1tNVknmkrhEwnlJaBCAOzfATlejp6PxPjXDDz7kOhXkh2FY_GjE3YZD4Mh2LBVnOqorJUMcLqk/s320/IMG_2774.jpg" width="223" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Polly and her "not ready for the Royal Wedding" hat.</b></div><br />
Was I glad I made a return trip to the Grand Pacific Open? Yes! Will I be back in 2011? I sure hope so. The tournament has a true European flair to it. All equipment and clocks are provided. The pairings go up well ahead of schedule. In fact the morning round pairings are posted the night before. Those who are inclined to prepare for the next round opponent can do so. The hotel is very nice and close to the ferries that come from the United States. How often can one get off a boat and walk to his or her hotel? Free Internet and free use of a fabulous health club are wonderful benefits to one's stay. My biggest complaint with many hotels is having to pay extra for Internet and use of the gym. Score one for Hotel Grand Pacific.<br />
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For anyone looking for a wonderful alternative to the usual mega-bucks weekend Swiss should really consider this tournament next year. Make a little vacation out of it by spending a few days in Seattle, Victoria or Vancouver before or after the event. Maybe we can have the Castling Queen Side tour.<br />
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Games to follow.Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13747958243702670987noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5114234807276194338.post-68227754538377685232011-04-24T14:42:00.001-04:002011-04-24T20:50:26.836-04:00Grand Pacific Open - 1st HalfThree rounds down, and three more to go. The trip from Seattle to Victoria was much smoother then last year's trip. Literally and figuratively. The weather was beautiful so it literally was smooth sailing. We could actually see the Seattle skyline as we pulled out.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUDuwoBGMPlna2DdrTTockHoC0LWTSvX0WFFogmnU79I6Hc8EBslyCmCyFqt7NlBD8XUgB1yaVzvXPbd5riSsrZzH79_y7HF0N5ygKkRSrSNLIbSSwlvh93VAejtIAXaeAjjCJICzliTE/s1600/IMG_2421.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUDuwoBGMPlna2DdrTTockHoC0LWTSvX0WFFogmnU79I6Hc8EBslyCmCyFqt7NlBD8XUgB1yaVzvXPbd5riSsrZzH79_y7HF0N5ygKkRSrSNLIbSSwlvh93VAejtIAXaeAjjCJICzliTE/s320/IMG_2421.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Space Needle - Seattle </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYu2PoJqBGAeDcVgbmeZvvgtJqco2z4ogfFRFOePY3PFIvZDLLHFACnxvSvISzhigrjAr2DnMlksuhB-2yLuGNHIDdeY5cEQsxJNnODjnoe4TBs0kEI2_1JMtKOdVvDk6PjB1r-EqfsOE/s1600/IMG_2428.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYu2PoJqBGAeDcVgbmeZvvgtJqco2z4ogfFRFOePY3PFIvZDLLHFACnxvSvISzhigrjAr2DnMlksuhB-2yLuGNHIDdeY5cEQsxJNnODjnoe4TBs0kEI2_1JMtKOdVvDk6PjB1r-EqfsOE/s320/IMG_2428.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">During the trip the weather cleared up very nicely so we could actually see the mountains. There still snow on them. I don't recall actually ever getting such a nice view on past trips to Victoria. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">I met a few people who were also on their way to the tournament. Last year in the chaos I had no idea if there were any chess players on the ferry or not. I did spend the time on the ferry chatting with one of the players from Portland, Oregon who was playing in this event for the first time. There are more Americans playing in the event this year. Then again there are more players period. They got over 100 players which is the most ever. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">The nice thing about how the tournament is scheduled is the fact that the first round is not until 6:00 pm on Friday. The ferry from Seattle arrives in Victoria around 10:30 am which leaves a nice chunk of time to do some sightseeing before hand. I chose to do a bus tour of Victoria and a trip to the <a href="http://www.butchartgardens.com/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1">Buchart Gardens</a>. I've visited the gardens several times before, but the flowers in April are very different then what I've seen in June visits.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7tlxPpQdAPzbqCxxRL8DGRp1Avq6lvqbsIuZGsbLb6fE3SkF_9LhrZaU8nPbvWKVCgldChDwuARtxBGinQ4BGMsTG-uSadO2bnibEEEGzF38VO6TpFDhIT5tWaWe84CoT_GIVGAacKeM/s1600/IMG_2461.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7tlxPpQdAPzbqCxxRL8DGRp1Avq6lvqbsIuZGsbLb6fE3SkF_9LhrZaU8nPbvWKVCgldChDwuARtxBGinQ4BGMsTG-uSadO2bnibEEEGzF38VO6TpFDhIT5tWaWe84CoT_GIVGAacKeM/s320/IMG_2461.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Sunken Garden - Buchart Gardens</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2AK2zm_uRsUG7RSwCRgUUbLLxD6YehqqcPW_mXjS-df7LeJZtJGqlZsLJRGru7ysJyIR_T6lD_miqLnvsJeify27-nksc62WE7iLJEXN9GvxYyWDW9cpxlv_EYFUQknz6NbjXUj6o-hA/s1600/IMG_2561.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2AK2zm_uRsUG7RSwCRgUUbLLxD6YehqqcPW_mXjS-df7LeJZtJGqlZsLJRGru7ysJyIR_T6lD_miqLnvsJeify27-nksc62WE7iLJEXN9GvxYyWDW9cpxlv_EYFUQknz6NbjXUj6o-hA/s320/IMG_2561.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="213" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiotkPNSZh0SvC1GxiXL1qHKhV79872FNYh_7hGGhU45XydVacE5AfZNGNCTGHmg4SNX6LVlap-i0Q9Z0MNtdVkmFmNUXOx2I-2vWYkhXTQXrmcwy7zhEpzaWlNtk32c8v16XnW240qsmU/s1600/IMG_2553.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiotkPNSZh0SvC1GxiXL1qHKhV79872FNYh_7hGGhU45XydVacE5AfZNGNCTGHmg4SNX6LVlap-i0Q9Z0MNtdVkmFmNUXOx2I-2vWYkhXTQXrmcwy7zhEpzaWlNtk32c8v16XnW240qsmU/s320/IMG_2553.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Spring flowers at Buchart Gardens</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJcb9vvSq9meNgZCs_U74X8XqRdkg6-Zw7S3tUPCvNsAKVRg-4t5nAR36UsjyVjiDOGUkGeHOclhESM-QJt4h755d06evVLV0pJReMQnDDj0dbGXugrIHYSHMQw0D8rSBkn95reckVe8Q/s1600/IMG_2652.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJcb9vvSq9meNgZCs_U74X8XqRdkg6-Zw7S3tUPCvNsAKVRg-4t5nAR36UsjyVjiDOGUkGeHOclhESM-QJt4h755d06evVLV0pJReMQnDDj0dbGXugrIHYSHMQw0D8rSBkn95reckVe8Q/s320/IMG_2652.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> <b>Breakfast of Champions?</b></div><br />
I got back in time to walk up to the super market and do some grocery shopping. I like to eat my usual type of breakfasts when I'm traveling. Cereal, milk and fresh fruit. Somebody please explain to me why I can find better organic strawberries in Canada then in the United States?<br />
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When I check into at the tournament one of the organizers told me there was another player from New York. I had seen the name on the advance entry list, but he wasn't somebody I was familiar with. He's played at The Marshall on Thursday night occasionally. However I'd never met or played him. Paul told me the he'd make sure to introduce us. However no introduction was necessary as we ended out playing each other in the very first round. What were the odds that the top half/bottom half would be such that we would actually get paired in the first round? They even used my Canadian rating instead of my USCF rating. It's a little strange seeing a rating under 1700 next to my name. It was an interesting game, but I did lose. He did out rate me by 400 points. I will post some games later. My first three rounds did not end out on the Mon Roi website. Maybe things will get working right for my last three games.<br />
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In round 2 I played one of the players who I met at the ferry in Seattle. He had recently left a comment on my blog asking when I was going to put something up about this tournament. So once again what were the odds of that happening. It was just one of those ugly games where I never quite got my pieces coordinated. I tried sac'ing pawns to free up my position, but my pieces still were a mess and I was down two pawns. I had a two choices. I could play out the agonizing position down two pawns and maybe last another hour, or I could resign and have three hours to enjoy the lovely Victoria sunshine. Unlike Bermuda when the weather sucked when I debated over an early resignation, this was a no brainer. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxw-IYdSAHCi_jy8uPY9j7pTxh5GmO6iN2GfOMyu0kTJ9av5sfCUpiZOkfwVftUfDWlZ9Lo2pMTvhWmcSKVqze6Hz8OfCjTRe3VEnJ5iv9V7n1yjwITGQXp8M-_IWQQaisYS4rV5rsLys/s1600/IMG_2671.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxw-IYdSAHCi_jy8uPY9j7pTxh5GmO6iN2GfOMyu0kTJ9av5sfCUpiZOkfwVftUfDWlZ9Lo2pMTvhWmcSKVqze6Hz8OfCjTRe3VEnJ5iv9V7n1yjwITGQXp8M-_IWQQaisYS4rV5rsLys/s320/IMG_2671.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Hotel Grand Pacific - Tournament Host Hotel and Sponsor</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTb42bPKNKy9tqDV8ElHfvD4FZS1G7mt4Gs9F_5quyZwsQRfG9Zj-aGFZOwr_0_rFLO8uhZCNxZys385_2BlpMcnbyXzkLJW3sVfaYyc_V7ncV0E9HDNLSa5OiersgSZeIu5NlDH9oV4U/s1600/IMG_2700.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTb42bPKNKy9tqDV8ElHfvD4FZS1G7mt4Gs9F_5quyZwsQRfG9Zj-aGFZOwr_0_rFLO8uhZCNxZys385_2BlpMcnbyXzkLJW3sVfaYyc_V7ncV0E9HDNLSa5OiersgSZeIu5NlDH9oV4U/s320/IMG_2700.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> <b>Provincial Government Building</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYYO_2G4z-0iMKm1PrqnIfR4tnxIhMh9Xdl717sSRNH7Xa-5ft0x8_8FjxmME-Z4PCS2W3fTSKahCUPgOUMI_-tpQ3qhqno-7u0QL_optwI-8dKUU0DBipYqsvUJbrwF4THCIARhhst3Q/s1600/IMG_2722.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYYO_2G4z-0iMKm1PrqnIfR4tnxIhMh9Xdl717sSRNH7Xa-5ft0x8_8FjxmME-Z4PCS2W3fTSKahCUPgOUMI_-tpQ3qhqno-7u0QL_optwI-8dKUU0DBipYqsvUJbrwF4THCIARhhst3Q/s320/IMG_2722.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Castled King Side (0-0) after Two Rounds?</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>What me worry?</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">One of the charming aspects of Victoria is that it's a very compact city. Everything is within walking distance of the hotel. Even last year, cane and all I was able to get around without much problem. This year it was even easier. There are lots of wonderful shops along Government St. How does one recover from a rough game? Retail therapy works wonders. Tea, chocolate and wine were on my shopping list.<br />
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The harbor area is it's own shopping mall with lots of local artists selling their work along the promenade that circles the harbor area. There one can find beautiful pieces of hand made jewelry, sculpture, wood carvings, prints, etc. Most everything is of high quality and pretty reasonably priced.<br />
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What would a beautiful sunny spring day be without a few street performers? Probably some folks would say "A whole lot better...." Each to their own. I have a friend from my cycling club who does street performances in sword swallowing and juggling so I always like to see how the locals compare to my friend. I like my friend's work better.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGL5U5ihC83CkqWib6PVeljUkMdyjkqjt6vig-vgqayX_7z3p8NV7iRcropWKy20F9zsfPG9KM0nDU1px_lqp2NQ39I7pnpxU9zYTyGWMOcIyG0saW4xv2ev7LGaaCKNaIMGxru5mTxV0/s1600/IMG_2693.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGL5U5ihC83CkqWib6PVeljUkMdyjkqjt6vig-vgqayX_7z3p8NV7iRcropWKy20F9zsfPG9KM0nDU1px_lqp2NQ39I7pnpxU9zYTyGWMOcIyG0saW4xv2ev7LGaaCKNaIMGxru5mTxV0/s320/IMG_2693.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIC8a1SGwqWi8D9JXUGkKFyfg3vjZ6XhcfqRpVx7bhYq_wNg4NhHKiNuK1jTNozZTXP7ix97HHxWft2feGVAs6D_DszNuZwcObWEFJwZ4eHRA82c8gIZbLox9TTddkIYX8vIgO7kcjaEs/s1600/IMG_2704.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIC8a1SGwqWi8D9JXUGkKFyfg3vjZ6XhcfqRpVx7bhYq_wNg4NhHKiNuK1jTNozZTXP7ix97HHxWft2feGVAs6D_DszNuZwcObWEFJwZ4eHRA82c8gIZbLox9TTddkIYX8vIgO7kcjaEs/s320/IMG_2704.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
After a nice afternoon of walking around, shopping and relaxing I was ready for more chess. I finally got paired down. I guess I learned something from my painful round two loss, because I was able to inflict similar pain on my round three opponent. His pieces weren't well placed so I was able to keep him boxed in while I maneuvered my pieces around and came in on the king side. He had castled queen side, but I was able to do more damage coming in on the king side.<br />
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In the meantime on the top boards the women were coming through in fine fashion. WGM Nino Maisuradze of France and WFM Valeria Gansvind of Estonia are both 3-0. NM Alex Yam is the other 3-0. He's paired against GM Igor Rausis of the Czech Rebublic who has 2.5. The two women will be facing off in round 4. (Edit: When I first reported this I thought GM Rausis was the other 3-0. As a TD I should have figured that out because it would have made no sense having the two women playing each other if Rausis had 3 points.)<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3H1K8OAFEDEy5-9z8k8k0bxcCs29jiDBM7fgkFoX1KD9HPJi_oTRoUqvn12cIu-oetDsS83rnp_wlxgyWuxf3_gLklDkk36NGjAeHRaULzE6HU9IbodI_h1kntIKKSe84wnNCud0JEHE/s1600/IMG_2730.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3H1K8OAFEDEy5-9z8k8k0bxcCs29jiDBM7fgkFoX1KD9HPJi_oTRoUqvn12cIu-oetDsS83rnp_wlxgyWuxf3_gLklDkk36NGjAeHRaULzE6HU9IbodI_h1kntIKKSe84wnNCud0JEHE/s320/IMG_2730.jpg" width="213" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGOrdybXm3m-U8HEkbvABTGem9m6AfDsLYHrE1nj-BR9VZ3H2AdNJ7DzwZIiGltaR91Cp5lHNf4xetmNoIvQ2_lCkgKpxLWHGMA1TbrczmSBkL8jgZ4WSZCWBrptF3AoDdrEtxioUi6dk/s1600/IMG_2684.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGOrdybXm3m-U8HEkbvABTGem9m6AfDsLYHrE1nj-BR9VZ3H2AdNJ7DzwZIiGltaR91Cp5lHNf4xetmNoIvQ2_lCkgKpxLWHGMA1TbrczmSBkL8jgZ4WSZCWBrptF3AoDdrEtxioUi6dk/s320/IMG_2684.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: left;"> WFM Valeria Gansvind WGM Nino Maisuradze</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Round Four is beginning in a few minutes so I am off to see if I can even up my score. I am getting paired up again and have Black so I will have my work cut out for me. Stay tuned for further updates.</div><br />
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</div>Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13747958243702670987noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5114234807276194338.post-32837493850919478782011-04-21T16:00:00.000-04:002011-04-21T16:00:43.006-04:00Road Trip!!Time for Polly's traveling chess circus to take to the skies and waters and head to the Pacific Northwest for an Easter weekend of chess. I am making a return appearance to the <a href="http://grandpacificopen.pbworks.com/w/page/15387541/FrontPage">Grand Pacific Open</a> in Victoria, British Columbia. Hopefully this year I will have smooth sailing from Seattle to Victoria, and not a <a href="http://castlingqueenside.blogspot.com/2010/04/taking-no-boat-from-seattle.html">ferry long side trip</a>. Being that it's late April the weather should be better. However with the Pacific Northwest you just never know.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihvSNJ1cqzha1wgma94DewlsCQ82GvrhAgB83WOo62ShF-0_SB9At54EIK5JygcwA6MYz7xYh7ZTjfmnqRdWaIJJGk1PQtbg-7EaKqKrn6J-qDMINLApeHaGEU9G_NSNhCsbj5g71QEE8/s1600/IMG_5044.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihvSNJ1cqzha1wgma94DewlsCQ82GvrhAgB83WOo62ShF-0_SB9At54EIK5JygcwA6MYz7xYh7ZTjfmnqRdWaIJJGk1PQtbg-7EaKqKrn6J-qDMINLApeHaGEU9G_NSNhCsbj5g71QEE8/s320/IMG_5044.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
I hemmed and hawed over whether I wanted to make the trip again. The other option was the <a href="http://www.chesstour.com/po11.htm">Philadelphia Open</a> which would have taken less time to get to, but it's too much like playing in New York. I'm sure I would have played several of the usual suspects from the Marshall Chess Club that I inevitably play when I go to Philadelphia. I don't need much of an excuse to jump on an airplane and travel across the country. However playing chess is as good an excuse as any.<br />
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This is the first of three chess trips planned between now and Memorial Day weekend. I can't tell you where I'll be playing chess from June onward. I can tell you one place I will not be returning to. I am not going back to Las Vegas. As the old expression goes "what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas." This year what happens in Vegas is staying in Vegas without me. I'm not knocking the tournament itself. The National Open is top notch in terms of organization and directing staff. However after two straight miserable tournaments out there I've come to the conclusion that all the noise and lights of the casino atmosphere is too distracting. The first year I blamed it on jet lag and playing the two day schedule. Last year I came in earlier, played the three day schedule and still my tournament sucked. Trying to decompress between games was too difficult with the cacophony of ringing bells and whistles of the slot machines, the bright lights and the cigarette smoke.<br />
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Victoria, on the other hand is Old World charm at it's best without having to go to Europe. One can do afternoon tea at the Empress Hotel pictured below. It's a beautiful old hotel. No the tournament is not held there. However I don't think I could even get a closet in that hotel at the chess rate. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbNcLRa8uMgi3zGJrTgotXO2GK3IwC7tluiLsCIUgYF2rDO1TaWaUi25pXi1gdvxy8A7l8GJ6mb_LM4jgKaAN5z7BLJkhKHf9WNwM4cFHRFx9ZfG0eNh_HmyRj877nhuctynZ8xtt7DrI/s1600/2006+170.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbNcLRa8uMgi3zGJrTgotXO2GK3IwC7tluiLsCIUgYF2rDO1TaWaUi25pXi1gdvxy8A7l8GJ6mb_LM4jgKaAN5z7BLJkhKHf9WNwM4cFHRFx9ZfG0eNh_HmyRj877nhuctynZ8xtt7DrI/s320/2006+170.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxLSZ5cPCakuyOBwsHrQJwZDNeM7ULxr8jFRfJVXw1Lg6nMM7Xzp-Z_1rlNhCbbKFZQLOk22m0MzimqdXHrd01pBXwzn53s5QHfrXwQ_kcvEUo8dR6ugp8FT9HxZLH6HM1hntK37PGwkY/s1600/2006+186.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxLSZ5cPCakuyOBwsHrQJwZDNeM7ULxr8jFRfJVXw1Lg6nMM7Xzp-Z_1rlNhCbbKFZQLOk22m0MzimqdXHrd01pBXwzn53s5QHfrXwQ_kcvEUo8dR6ugp8FT9HxZLH6HM1hntK37PGwkY/s320/2006+186.jpg" width="247" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> A three tiers of delicious tea sandwiches and pastries. A meal in itself.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">The Empress sits at the head of the harbor. There are all sorts of boats that go out for sails around the harbor. There are also whale watching tours. Being the intrepid one I got on one those little Zodiacs and went to see whales. I did see whales, but that won't be a journey I'll be taking on this trip. Whale watching in late June is one thing. Whale watching in April is a whole other thing.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGXdE934ABzxd2osNG2BXBFbr2tWdtjJfyGktkqLJ-y_6LF82QXeVHGizytgO9N6d2PaydJ1JpZx6Fu4Mx_BvTGAheG88WImr5VQtvPjC-gK9qNGaX12MMkIvsoHFWQcxAdfuGjo0F2m0/s1600/2006+201.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGXdE934ABzxd2osNG2BXBFbr2tWdtjJfyGktkqLJ-y_6LF82QXeVHGizytgO9N6d2PaydJ1JpZx6Fu4Mx_BvTGAheG88WImr5VQtvPjC-gK9qNGaX12MMkIvsoHFWQcxAdfuGjo0F2m0/s320/2006+201.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Life on the high seas? I had a whale of a good time!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsGIpfTLWfadRGFgBYT78Ogd_rEBkh75sKn_WE_-68x_BEqRmCyeE9HVLDOxA28KOZHaSVI3Ah-tr9fO8siNz9IdoyIpq9caW_5Udi6zhxx1QNr9tWO6gh17zLUl6rzSqbtA-Y0e74kus/s1600/2006+218.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsGIpfTLWfadRGFgBYT78Ogd_rEBkh75sKn_WE_-68x_BEqRmCyeE9HVLDOxA28KOZHaSVI3Ah-tr9fO8siNz9IdoyIpq9caW_5Udi6zhxx1QNr9tWO6gh17zLUl6rzSqbtA-Y0e74kus/s320/2006+218.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>Old ship at dock.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiSU_xarPIMfF8b6Qdv2JwVBNrp4GN-d06063jF3NhBH4cajff__FQPyknNwdGWGOJWdCxPaiKMSCTlV3uwNxy7ZDfCt5B39QzKv5AOCHbpMFeFTFsqNBUmB1GVEjBWtUzVy89NPSNuSE/s1600/2006+182.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiSU_xarPIMfF8b6Qdv2JwVBNrp4GN-d06063jF3NhBH4cajff__FQPyknNwdGWGOJWdCxPaiKMSCTlV3uwNxy7ZDfCt5B39QzKv5AOCHbpMFeFTFsqNBUmB1GVEjBWtUzVy89NPSNuSE/s320/2006+182.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Provincial Government Building at dusk. </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXwgYJ9tydqlt3m4HOrjTR-2Rz_kWtdsNES_WnF1TZllFCB2A0zzHdFKs0XbYszS-TnUmJO_5eFNbIsnDUj4lm0FKBNoKGu1YQEYIy6bmCza2MFtqsseXPpy_CyXTt29dNzDYp4539ctA/s1600/IMG_5050.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXwgYJ9tydqlt3m4HOrjTR-2Rz_kWtdsNES_WnF1TZllFCB2A0zzHdFKs0XbYszS-TnUmJO_5eFNbIsnDUj4lm0FKBNoKGu1YQEYIy6bmCza2MFtqsseXPpy_CyXTt29dNzDYp4539ctA/s320/IMG_5050.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Spring in Victoria. Beautiful flowers in bloom.</div><br />
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However it's not just the city itself that draws me back. It's really nicely organized tournament. Having learned from last year I will be traveling much lighter this year. I have my Mon Roi, a notebook, and a few pens for chess equipment. I didn't bring a board, set or clock because all of that is provided. For my European readers that's a given. However if I showed up in Philadelphia or almost any other weekend Swiss in the United states without all my gear I might be running around trying to borrow a set and board if my opponent didn't bring one. Even worse I might be at the mercy of the kid who shows up with pink and purple chess pieces on a neon pink board, or the old guy with the ancient BHB analog clock and a plastic chess set from 1969 with a broken cross on the king.<br />
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I'll be providing periodic updates throughout the weekend, and perhaps some games if time allows. If you can't wait for me to post games they will be live on the <a href="http://www.monroi.com/">Mon Roi</a> website. In case you didn't notice I did post some games from the club championship. I must have left everyone speechless because neither game has evoked one single comment. :-)Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13747958243702670987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5114234807276194338.post-57302161701857498172011-04-18T23:50:00.000-04:002011-04-19T00:12:26.876-04:00Games! Spoiler Alert....No Train Wrecks.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">It’s Monday night and it’s the make up round.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>5 rounds down, one to go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s only one game to be made up, but it’s not happening tonight because it’s the first night of Passover.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of the players involved in the make up game is Jewish the other is not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span>When I initially set up the schedule for the tournament this was the scheduled date for round 6. I had wanted to finish before Easter. When I had to redo the entire schedule because of so many late entries, I thought perhaps I need to check the calendar before setting up new dates. It's then I discovered that this was the first night of Passover, and perhaps I should not have a regular round. <br />
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I’m not sure what it is about the players in this tournament, but there seems to be communication breakdown. I send out emails asking the players to figure out when they’re going to play the game since they’re not going to play tonight. I see a wall post on Facebook from one of the players to the other saying “Where do you want to play our game tomorrow?” No response. I guess that’s because the response was showing up tonight and asking “Where’s Alanna?”<br />
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“She was planning to play you tomorrow. I’m running a game/30 tonight. Do you want to play?”<br />
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Fortunately he said yes, and that got me off the hook. I had already entered myself into the tournament to even out the numbers. I was perfectly happy to take myself out of the tournament. This means I am going on three weeks without playing one single game of cracktion. My last game of Game/30 was on March 31st. For the month of April I have played four games of “slow” chess. Slow is relative since the time limit was G/85. That may be fast to those accustomed to playing 40/2 G/60. However for this cracktion addict G/85 is slow. Having the extra time helped me in rounds 2 and 3.<br />
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In the first round I drew with Alanna Katz. In the second round I played her father. There are three sets of family members playing in the tournament. I have two father and child combinations and a set of brothers. Thankfully the results of the family members have differed enough that I haven't had to adjust pairings to avoid family members playing each other.<br />
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It was a tough game. I had burned a lot of time early on, and found myself very pressed for time in the end. It also didn't help that I had a pounding headache. The YMCA moved us out of the after school program room into the kitchen. Often there are smells from a strong <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">disinfectant. I think the smell gives me headaches. </span>I won two pawns and headed into a rook and pawns ending with 12 seconds on my clock. Fortunately the 5 second time delay gave me time to work things out. When I got down to be so short on the clock my opponent offered me a draw. It briefly entered my mind to take the draw and gain the half point. However I felt despite the lack of time, I should be able to push one of the pawns through and force him to give up his rook for one of them. I knew I just needed to avoid checks. Here's the game.<br />
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Our game had drawn a crowd since we were the last game left. I don't recall whether we played any moves beyond what I had recorded. The following week I would have a similar type of ending with lots of time pressure. That game I did stop keeping score, but I also diagrammed the final position. In this game I did not diagram the final position which leads me to believe maybe my opponent had resigned where my notation stopped. Although I do find it hard to believe he resigned with my pawns so far back and me being so short on time. Even me who tends to resign too early would not have resigned in that position.<br />
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In round three I got paired up again. That was not surprising considering I had 1.5 points out of 2 against the Katz family. It's too bad Ben Katz isn't playing. Maybe I could have gone for three Katz in a row. Instead I'm playing Mike Amori who I've played a number of times before with not such stellar results. 1 win, 1 draw and 10 losses. It looked like loss number 11 was coming after I lost the exchange on move 27, and it really should have come by move 42. Thankfully he missed the killer queen sac on move 39 that leads to mate in 4. Neither of us had seen it. <br />
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I had another pounding headache and there were a number times that I just wanted to resign and go home. However when I'm the tournament director that's kind of hard to do. I could just have someone send me the results, but with the group I never quite know what to expect, so I play on and hope for the best. In this case Caissa showed me favor for my persistence. I managed to get the exchange back and end out in another rook and pawn ending up three pawns. I felt like I had seen this position before. <br />
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Here is the game up the point I stopped keeping score:<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><strong>Below is the final position when White ran out of time. </strong></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHmDI9bS3VxeDTgdWrvzzVAVT9CKRuuLVL-m22IfVVTcuqipJLadDRBFUFdcEJRlnR7fYhkGTkMrqEA0wkw1LfDfbJHRG3F81hgOftgra5VsnbgnADVRpH45AouDpVIKyR5ZrCWnEj1EE/s1600/ma-pw+final032111.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHmDI9bS3VxeDTgdWrvzzVAVT9CKRuuLVL-m22IfVVTcuqipJLadDRBFUFdcEJRlnR7fYhkGTkMrqEA0wkw1LfDfbJHRG3F81hgOftgra5VsnbgnADVRpH45AouDpVIKyR5ZrCWnEj1EE/s320/ma-pw+final032111.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong>White to move.</strong> </div>There is no defense for White. He can try 1. Rxf3+ Kxf3, 2. Kh2 Ra1 3. Kh3 Rh1#.<br />
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Reality would set in the following week when Joshua Colas would kick my butt badly. That game isn't even worth posting. The next game I'll post is my round 5 draw that I really should have won. However being up two pawns in a minor piece ending of knight versus knight wasn't so easy for me.Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13747958243702670987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5114234807276194338.post-19830213113158324892011-04-14T00:22:00.000-04:002011-04-14T00:22:07.212-04:00The Inmates Are Running the Asylum! More directing headaches!I think I must have jinxed myself when I made the following comment a few weeks ago: "I find directing a 200 player scholastic tournament in one day easier then directing a 26 player tournament that is spread out over the course of 9 weeks." This past Sunday I directed a scholastic tournament that ended out being the chess tournament from hell. I had players in wrong sections, or in no section at all. There were the no-shows and switching pairings to take care of the no-shows and the late arriving players. It seemed like I had to redo the pairings in the top sections at least two to three times in the first round alone. Any changes I had made in between repairings would get lost. When I would go to pair the second round all my changes had gone into a black hole, and I would have to put the changes back in and start over again. It also doesn't help when people are telling me things that impact the pairings, but because it wasn't given to me in writing, it didn't get done. I can only remember so many things before my brain goes into overload.<br />
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Because I have the computer set up in the playing room, I not only deal with doing pairings, but sometimes I have to make rulings on the floor when there are touch move disputes or other problems. I don't know but there was something in the air on Sunday. There were more disputes and temper tantrums in that one tournament then the other 5 in that series combined. The most common dispute occurs over touch move. Did the opponent touch a piece or not? Touch move is one of the most frustrating claims to make a ruling on. <br />
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If one goes to the rulebook to look up the rule she will find herself reading the following paragraph before even reading the rule itself.<br />
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<i><b>TD Tip:</b> Without a neutral witness Rule 10 depends on the reliability of both the claimant and the opponent. If they disagree then the TD should strongly consider denying the claim. In most cases, by denying the claim the TD shuts the door to all false claims. Upholding a false claim usually does more harm to more players than denying an accurate claim. </i> (page 20 USCF Official Rules of Chess)<br />
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Now to the touch move rule itself. <b>10B: Touch-move rule:</b> Except for 10A (adjustment of pieces), a player on move who <u>deliberately</u> touches one or more pieces, in a manner that may <u>reasonably be interpreted</u> as the beginning of a move, must move or capture the first piece touched that can be captured or moved. <b>See also</b> 10E, Accidental touch of a piece; 10F, appearance of adjustment.<br />
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I underlined "deliberately" and "reasonably be interpreted" for emphasis because these are key to dealing with claims. A kid will often try to call touch-move on his opponent when the opponent's hand hits a piece while reaching for another one. He claims touch-move even before the opponent gets his hand on the piece he's intending to move. Sad to say there are kids who will try convince the opponent that he's required to move the piece even though it was an accidental touch. This is where the tournament director gets called over. In situations like this it's fairly easy to to make a ruling denying the claim.<br />
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There are situations where the opponent will admit he touched a piece, but that it was an accident because he was really intending to play a different move. "I didn't deliberately touch the bishop. I was planning to play Qb5 the whole time." Yeh, right! Actually there is a whole TD tip devoted to that particular scenario.<br />
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<i><b>TD tip:</b> "Touch-move rule" claim without a witness. After talking to the claimant and opponents, TDs will find that opponent often insist that they did not "deliberately" touch a piece. Often, after some further discussion, the TD will find that some of the opponents really dis physically touch the piece in a way that they intended to move it (not an accident); however they will explain that they really intended to move another piece; therefore, believe that since the "touch" was not literally "deliberate" (since they intended to move another piece), the rule was not broken. The TD will have to uphold the claim in this instance.</i><br />
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Those instances are pretty easy to deal with. It's when both players are very insistent about what they did that it becomes tricky. If the TD asks the same question a number of times he will often get at the truth. I recall Steve Immitt dealing with two adults in a letting go of piece <a href="http://castlingqueenside.blogspot.com/2008/05/round-four-fun-and-follies.html">dispute</a>. The way he continually asked the claimant's opponent to him what he did with the piece, it became clear that he had let go ever so briefly. This is a slightly different situation since the claim was about letting go of the piece in question. The players could agree on the fact that the piece had been touched. In dealing with kids it's often a matter of not understanding the rule. That was the situation in most of the incidents I had in the scholastic tournament.<br />
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What happens when adults have this kind of dispute? Adults understand the rule and are not as prone to trying to misapply it in situations such as accidental touches or touching one piece while planning to move another. The latter I refer to as "thinking with one's hand".<br />
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After my scholastic tournament from hell on Sunday, I had the club championship from hell on Monday. I was really hoping all the pairing problems were behind me. I had not gotten any frantic emails or phone calls with messages saying they couldn't make it that night. I thought I would get through a round with all 26 players in attendance, and be able to make round 5 pairings based on actual results. The good news; all 26 players were there. The bad news; I may have been there in body, but my chess brain wasn't there. I made a dumb decision not to trade off my opponent's knight. That knight then came in and busted open my king side, and within a few moves I was lost. I was very disappointed in how I played that round. However losing was the least of my problems.<br />
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I was putting my equipment away when I hear two players having a heated discussion. I come over to see what the problem was. One player was claiming that his opponent picked up his knight, started to move it, put it back where it was, and make a completely different move. The opponent claimed he did not touch the knight. I tried the "Immitt technique" of asking the same question, and have each player show me what happened. I was having no success with this method because both players were emphatic about what happened. The claimant demonstrated that the opponent picked up the knight and started to move it. The opponent demonstrated that he reached for the knight, did not touch it at all, much less pick it up and start to move it. It was a case of "he said/he said". The players at the adjoining board said they didn't see anything.<br />
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Everyone was getting annoyed at the ruckus so I asked the two players to leave the room so that we could discuss it without disturbing everyone else. I'm totally annoyed that these two players are acting like children and that one of them is lying. The problem is I have no way of telling which one is lying. It's not a case of someone reaching for a piece and not realizing that they may have touched it. It's the claimant saying that the opponent actually picked up the piece and started to move it before realizing that moving it is a blunder, and the opponent saying he didn't pick it up. The claimant tells the opponent that's "Bull $h!t" What's a TD to do? Follow the TD tip on page 20, and hope that denying the claim doesn't impact the result of the game.<br />
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The claimant was so pissed off. Later on he came out of the room and told me "I'm so pissed off. I can't believe he can lie like that." I told him"You know the rule. You've seen it with your students. There is nothing I can do. Calm down and try to beat him." He tells me he can't concentrate because he's so angry. I would have liked to see him win so that non-decision wouldn't hurt. It looked like that's what would happen. He was winning pretty much until the end when he messed up the ending and lost. <br />
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What can I say? Another strange night at the chess club. After 4 rounds I have a score of 2.5 - 1.5 where the average rating of my opponents has been 2024. Wins against an 1890 and 2025, loss to a master and a draw with a 1950. Despite the craziness I've played well for the most part.<br />
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I know I keep promising games. They're coming!Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13747958243702670987noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5114234807276194338.post-66211407975341097022011-04-01T19:29:00.000-04:002011-04-01T19:29:27.672-04:00WaCkY wEdNeSdAy!! April Fools! It's Freaky Friday!It's been awhile since I've posted any games that were Wacky Wednesday worthy. Thankfully it's mostly because I haven't had any of those totally absurd games that left me scratching my head and saying "What was I thinking?". Unfortunately that streak came to a crashing end with this butt ass ugly miniature played on Monday.<br />
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I wish I could end this post with "This didn't really happen. Aprils Fools!", but unfortunately it really did happen. I don't know where my brain was at that point. Maybe I was too busy thinking about Sunday's games or the Club Championship make up games that were being played that night. I can't blame it on time trouble. As the expression goes "$4!# happens!" I guess every once in awhile I need one of those types of games to remind me that I need to work on my openings and tactics.Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13747958243702670987noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5114234807276194338.post-65827792105870677962011-03-31T12:26:00.001-04:002011-03-31T12:27:56.966-04:00Bob Peretz CC vs CC of Fairfield County - Rd. 2The first round was closer then I thought it would be considering the rating differences from board five on down. Maybe having White in the first round helped us out. Instead of simply changing colors and playing the same player over again, we had a little different format. Our board one would play their board two. Their board one would play our board two. Board three played board four, etc. This switching would go all the way down to board eight. Since there were an odd number of boards in the match we had to change things a little more, otherwise board 11 would have played the same person again. For boards nine through eleven CCFC tournament director, Melvin Patrick and I set it up so nine played eleven, ten played the other eleven, and the other nine played the other ten. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjld3e3CBNWsh2nzdbwr350-F4-E-mVHJTBToTZf1fzTtqJLU3InpMpLP9em9W26G3iZQplJfi_-1SXzhWK4VsjESus-oxL3CB_Yo4Kg4jet8YQ2dozx9AD4rXPaWG4bMvjAZXoAIrm4Fo/s1600/IMG_2389.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjld3e3CBNWsh2nzdbwr350-F4-E-mVHJTBToTZf1fzTtqJLU3InpMpLP9em9W26G3iZQplJfi_-1SXzhWK4VsjESus-oxL3CB_Yo4Kg4jet8YQ2dozx9AD4rXPaWG4bMvjAZXoAIrm4Fo/s320/IMG_2389.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><strong>Melvin Patrick</strong></div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong>Fellow TD, and Team Captain for CCFC </strong></div><br />
Despite the fact that a mere two rating points separate Melvin and me, we did not end out playing each other. Instead I played their board six, Hanon Russell the man behind the excellent website <a href="http://www.chesscafe.com/">Chess Cafe</a>. Perhaps I'd be better served spending time on his website reading Bruce Pandolfini's most <a href="http://www.chesscafe.com/bruce/bruce.htm">recent column</a>. Pandolfini gives some excellent advice to the father of a kid who loses on time a lot. Dan Heisman also has a timely article in his <a href="http://www.chesscafe.com/heisman/heisman.htm">Novice Nook</a> column.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSMf6Ph2kj4gbKUx4WOxxxhfN5VFZ6lPeLTzbRhLvGtW8jeXRgVuHPtE76M_MwCmpy1Uyv5C0kbH7XaF1yREMbXUs5rkbM7v3ElQ-9oZdF-GBwm_MSGnqBkiHAGmLhdL_ttdkaRkoCpUc/s1600/IMG_2395.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSMf6Ph2kj4gbKUx4WOxxxhfN5VFZ6lPeLTzbRhLvGtW8jeXRgVuHPtE76M_MwCmpy1Uyv5C0kbH7XaF1yREMbXUs5rkbM7v3ElQ-9oZdF-GBwm_MSGnqBkiHAGmLhdL_ttdkaRkoCpUc/s320/IMG_2395.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Hanon Russell</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Chess Cafe</b></div><br />
Hanon and I had a very closely contested game that probably would have been a draw had I not run out of time. It was knight versus bishop ending. I had the bishop which was not quite as active as his knight. Unfortunately in games where there are clock issues the knight can be a real thorn in the opponent's side since there is always the possibility of forks. I managed to dodge any potential fork threats or any other time pressure implosions in this game. Flagging leads to the same result as imploding, but it doesn't necessarily make for such an exciting finish. Here's the game. I was satisfied with my overall play.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7hk6jytOdZN1Nw8u0Frc6OG5c0DvJqjdUovZa0ZuYvNDTRVhY8Mjt97U8izONzM5tFF4IUSfLqiYoKqZZCojo9T1BE94SMm8K587m4CnUlpAb4rRX6ubEzoGMInOferegHAe00oSC8X0/s1600/IMG_2409.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7hk6jytOdZN1Nw8u0Frc6OG5c0DvJqjdUovZa0ZuYvNDTRVhY8Mjt97U8izONzM5tFF4IUSfLqiYoKqZZCojo9T1BE94SMm8K587m4CnUlpAb4rRX6ubEzoGMInOferegHAe00oSC8X0/s320/IMG_2409.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> <b>I still can manage a smile despite my 0-2 day.</b></div><br />
I wish I could report that the second round was as close as my game. Playing Black didn't reap such good results and we lost the round 8-3. <br />
<br />
<strong>Bd Res White (CCFC) Res Black (BPCC)</strong><br />
<strong><br />
</strong><br />
1 1 Harrison Wheeler (2254) 0 Michael H Bodek (2277)<br />
<br />
2 0 Daniel L Lowinger (2265) 1 Oliver Chernin (2243)<br />
<br />
3 1 Benjamin Katz (2122) 0 Michael Amori (2027)<br />
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4 ½ Ian Harris (2231) ½ Jason Shi (1969)<br />
<br />
5 1 Hanon W Russell (2057) 0 Polly P Wright (1700)<br />
<br />
6 1 Alex Eydelman (2060) 0 Hubert Herring (1665)<br />
<br />
7 1 Melvin B Patrick (1698) 0 Anthony Lawrence (1632)<br />
<br />
8 0 Alanna Katz (1958) 1 Noah Rutkovsky (1465)<br />
<br />
9 1 Aman Karunakaran (1509) 0 Michael Morin (1336)<br />
<br />
10 1 Druha Karunakaran (1577) 0 Jose Leon (1322)<br />
<br />
11 ½ Joshua Blanchfield (1529) ½ garrett washington (unr.)<br />
<br />
The final score of the overall match was: CCFC - 14.5 BPCC - 7.5. The stake of the match was losing club submitted the results and paid the rating fee. $5.00 was a reasonable cost for a day of good chess. Hopefully a rematch with a longer time control can be set up in the near future.Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13747958243702670987noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5114234807276194338.post-43105776345010181542011-03-30T23:41:00.001-04:002011-03-30T23:53:35.731-04:00Bob Peretz CC vs CC of Fairfield County Match - Rd. 1The East Coast version of the <a href="http://saintlouischessclub.org/">Chess Club and Scholastic Center of St. Louis</a> has recently opened in Norwalk, CT. The <a href="http://www.fairfieldcountychess.com/">Chess Club of Fairfield County</a> opened its new building in the winter. It's quite an impressive <a href="http://www.fairfieldcountychess.com/ourfacility.html">space</a>. They challenged my club to a match at their location. I've been so busy it was actually my first chance to go there since they opened. A number of players from my club also members of their club so there was a bit of case of divided loyalties.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6sZCtEeAa6FCdMiDjagphFqqdV36mxECDNDODKaouGIZrhJN_IX06bvq_7lPdb71mwmREWs2CbDGMmDbY75BDOXLp2FoYNKYAcwyj7FCSByzxRiKIAhROKJldMp6OOsx_lqbzuQXJVHg/s1600/IMG_2375.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6sZCtEeAa6FCdMiDjagphFqqdV36mxECDNDODKaouGIZrhJN_IX06bvq_7lPdb71mwmREWs2CbDGMmDbY75BDOXLp2FoYNKYAcwyj7FCSByzxRiKIAhROKJldMp6OOsx_lqbzuQXJVHg/s320/IMG_2375.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Main playing room.</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Players from both teams warming up.</b></div><br />
Trying to get this match organized had its aggravating moments. The original format was two game at a time control of game/90. I had 14 people who expressed an interest in playing and said they were available. It turned out CCFC had scheduled a lecture by Danny Kopec for 4:00 pm that same day. They wanted to shorten the time control to game/60 so that we would finish in time for the lecture.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiGG-6uUDsmcnb0VoGmHF07X5pC2vwgzrB4rAxk9Reya8Ps6o5usyAMsuf5-kPYc-_-oCfrk7T8z-IEm9xFiXoLThUQGk1BVpvRcWNNMuXUwB6k9e9vbt2U3jYr_GjTXukIbzPWrWS5XQ/s1600/IMG_2405.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiGG-6uUDsmcnb0VoGmHF07X5pC2vwgzrB4rAxk9Reya8Ps6o5usyAMsuf5-kPYc-_-oCfrk7T8z-IEm9xFiXoLThUQGk1BVpvRcWNNMuXUwB6k9e9vbt2U3jYr_GjTXukIbzPWrWS5XQ/s320/IMG_2405.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>International Master Danny Kopec</b></div><br />
A week before the match I email everyone to confirm whether or not they were going to play. Several people now had conflicts and had to drop out. Another player replied that he had no interest in playing game/60. Of the five people who now weren't coming, four of them were rated over 2100. There went most of the meat of the BPCC line up. I knew CCFC had a number of masters that would be playing for them.<br />
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After everything was said and done I had 11 players for our team. CCFC had 13 players so they gave us one of their players to even out the match. They gave us Oliver Chernin who's rated 2243. That would help our depleted line up somewhat, but still once we got to board five the rating difference was heavily weighted in CCFC's favor. In round one we had board one vs board one, board two vs board two, etc. We also would have White on all the boards in the first round. On board five I would be playing their board five, Alex Eydelman, a 2060 who I've played a number of times at my club. We've always had some wild games where both of us have very little time left on the clock. This would be one of those rare games where we started with more then 30 minutes on the clock. Despite the game/60 time limit I would still have severe clock issues. The game was pretty close until I got under a minute and then all hell broke loose. It wasn't a pretty picture at the end.<br />
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Here's the game.<br />
<br />
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<br />
The first round was actually pretty close with CCFC winning the round 6.5 to 4.5. The results looked like this:<br />
<br />
Pairings for Round 1. BPCC vs CCFC Match<br />
<br />
<br />
Bd Res White (BPCC) Res Black (CCFC)<br />
<br />
1 1 Michael H Bodek (2277) 0 Daniel L Lowinger (2265)<br />
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2 0 Oliver Chernin (2243) 1 Harrison Wheeler (2254)<br />
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3 1 Michael Amori (2027) 0 Ian Harris (2231)<br />
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4 1 Jason Shi (1969) 0 Benjamin Katz (2122)<br />
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5 0 Polly P Wright (1700) 1 Alex Eydelman (2060)<br />
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6 0 Hubert Herring (1665) 1 Hanon W Russell (2057)<br />
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7 0 Anthony Lawrence (1632) 1 Alanna Katz (1958)<br />
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8 0 Noah Rutkovsky (1465) 1 Melvin B Patrick (1698)<br />
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9 0 Michael Morin (1336) 1 Druha Karunakaran (1577)<br />
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10 1 Jose Leon (1322) 0 Joshu Blanchfield (1529)<br />
<br />
11 ½ Garrett Washington (unr.) ½ Aman Karunakaran (1509)<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimF5NcPNUXQspdAIB-_8YEIlUwuqTlHN0_y30-vUaP0K346c5hWgHZjEbhJ8jo-7DZIKD2bsfFpeBEIN_4RpskMq5GFK1h-acRVcdOHOOv5USll-s7T31HX2WeqMq9nyCe2TBngttgxt0/s1600/IMG_2381.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimF5NcPNUXQspdAIB-_8YEIlUwuqTlHN0_y30-vUaP0K346c5hWgHZjEbhJ8jo-7DZIKD2bsfFpeBEIN_4RpskMq5GFK1h-acRVcdOHOOv5USll-s7T31HX2WeqMq9nyCe2TBngttgxt0/s320/IMG_2381.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Top boards </b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Harrison Wheeler and Daniel Lowinger of CCFC</b></div><br />
With colors reversed things would not be so close in round two. Stay tuned.....Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13747958243702670987noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5114234807276194338.post-34915557122454798042011-03-26T23:48:00.000-04:002011-03-26T23:48:26.151-04:00Adventures In Directing: Club Championship Headaches!In a typical year I'm involved with directing somewhere between 30 and 50 tournaments a year. They range in size from a single 4 player quad to a scholastic tournament with over 200 entries. There are times I'm involved with even larger tournaments. When I'm directing tournaments for other organizers it's often easier because I just have to show up and do what ever they tell me. When I'm organizing the tournament then I get to deal with all the little details.<br />
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I find directing a 200 player scholastic tournament in one day easier then directing a 26 player tournament that is spread out over the course of 9 weeks. The one day tournament is just that. It's done in less then 24 hours. Run the tournament, submit the memberships and results and it's done. Yes things can go wrong like incorrect results being recorded, crazy chess parents, crying kids, bad rulings, etc. However once the day is done the headaches go away for the most part. There will be times where something that happened at tournament on Saturday comes backs and bites me on a Tuesday. Fortunately that doesn't happen too often.<br />
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However running a club championship that takes a few months to complete can create new headaches almost on a daily basis. I laid out a schedule for the club championship that would begin the last Monday in February and end in mid-April. However <a href="http://castlingqueenside.blogspot.com/2007/09/new-york-state-championship-murphy.html">Murphy's Law</a> strikes again as sometimes life gets in the way, and I had to miss the first round. I had another director start the tournament. He had 14 players show up the first night. I was a little disappointed in the turnout, but I knew there were going to be a few players who couldn't play the first round. <br />
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I thought it was going to be about 4 players including myself who couldn't make it. My plan was to pair those players and have them play the make up round scheduled after round 2. However extra 4 players turned into 7, then 9 and finally 12! I couldn't exactly pair 12 players as having drawn in round 1. Pairing pending games as draws is a typical practice in these types of events. However when the highest rated player is one of the latecomers, I decided I needed to schedule the first makeup round before Round 2. That entailed completely redoing the schedule and sending out more emails with the new schedule.<br />
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With a tournament like this I try to keep even numbers so that no byes have to be assigned. I had carefully paired up the latecomers, and then got another phone call asking if I could take another player. I told the mom to bring the kid and I would see if I could get him in for that round, or give him 1/2 point bye for round 1 and have him play in the game/30 I was running for players who did not have a make-up round. This particular kid always takes a bye in the last round of the game/30 tournament so that added another wrinkle to the equation.<br />
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I was trying to get the make-up round going, and also run the game/30. I thought I was going to have an even number in both tournaments. I decided I would have the kid play in my place in the club championship so that I wouldn't have the last round bye problem in the other tournament. I could always take a 1/2 point bye in the club championship and play in the game/30. If this wasn't confusing enough, I forgot to put enter one of the players into the game/30 tournament. I didn't realize that until I read the pairings and the player asked "What about me?" Oops! I took myself out of the game/30 and put him in my place. After everything was said and done, I played no chess that night. Probably just as well since I was suffering from mass confusion and indecision.<br />
<br />
I thought once I got all the make up games out of the way, and could pair normally for the second round everything would be fine. However when you have kids playing in the tournament there is always going to be the "bug of the week". I had two kids who got sick over the weekend and couldn't play on Monday evening. Did one really think they would have been paired against each other? No, that would have been too simple. Could I repair their respective opponents against one another and have the kids play each other on another day? Nope. The two kids were too close in rating, and it would have entailed pairing a master against a 2100 in round two.<br />
<br />
I let the two opponents know that they would not have a game that evening and would play during the next scheduled make-up round after round three. One of those players responded to my email with a rather lengthy rant that started out, "I know this isn't the interzonal, but..." He seemed annoyed that someone could reschedule their game like that. Hey it's not my fault he didn't check his email until an hour before the round starts. I sent the email out Sunday night.<br />
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Going into round three I have these two unplayed games. With games that need to be made up there is the director's dilemma. Pair them as if the higher rated player won and pray there are no upsets, or pair as draws and have some strange round three pairings. We've always paired the unplayed games as draws instead of risking the possibility of totally unfair pairings in the event the higher rated player loses. Since it's a six round tournament the top rated players are going to end out playing each other almost no matter what. Assuming a minimal amount of upsets they will play each other in rounds four, five and six.<br />
<br />
The way things turned out, number one ended out playing number two in round three. It was not the ideal round for those two to play each other, but that pairing was going to come up in round four, or maybe round five at the latest. The pairing did provoke a blistering Facebook message saying. "I totally disagree with this pairing." Once I explained that number three and five were paired as draws, and that everything would straighten itself over the course of the remaining rounds, he seemed satisfied.<br />
<br />
Having settled the pairing issue I thought everything else would run smoothly for the third round. Wrong! Murphy's Law strikes again. In this case I would call it "Wright's Rule of Siblings" <i>If older brother gets sick, little brother will catch it a week later.</i> Sure enough I get another email from their dad saying that now the younger son is sick. Oh well, at least the following Monday is the make-up round. Now both kids can come that night. To make matters worse the third round opponent of the older brother emails me and says she's not feeling too well and could she play next week during the make-up round. Argh!!! When will it end??? I wrote back and said she would have to work it out with her opponent and play before the make-up round since he was already scheduled to play someone else that night.<br />
<br />
All of that being said and done at least Murphy has the decency to stay away while the actual games are being played. This has allowed me to play my own games without being interrupted by disputes or draw claims. I had a couple of odd ball pairings due to all the maneuvering I did in order to get the first make-up round off the ground. Since I put the one kid in my place, I paired myself against Alanna Katz who couldn't play that evening. We would play at her house the day before round two. I paired us as a draw since I didn't want to wait until Sunday night to put out round two pairings. People like to know ahead of time who they're playing. Pairing that way had me playing her father in round two. As it turned out Alanna and I actually drew our game, so our second round pairings ended out being based on the correct result.<br />
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Despite all the craziness related to running this tournament I'm having a very good tournament so far. I have 2.5 out of 3 despite being paired up every round. Depending on the results of the make up round I could be playing number one in round four. I certainly was not expecting to be playing on board one or two in the fourth round. Unlike the <a href="http://castlingqueenside.blogspot.com/2009/06/westchester-chess-club-championship.html">Westchester Chess Club Championship</a> that I won in 2009, I have a snowball's chance in hell of winning the Bob Peretz Chess Club Championship. I'm ranked number 18 in a field of 26 players that includes two masters, and five experts. I did beat one of the experts in round three.<br />
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Games to follow in upcoming posts.Pollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13747958243702670987noreply@blogger.com2