Annex Chess Club Changing Leaves Swiss (Sept. 17 - Oct. 22/18) - Blog

**Bob Armstrong** · Tuesday, 18th September, 2018, 09:54 AM

Annex Chess Club Changing Leaves Swiss - Blog (Part II of 2 Parts)
Rd. 1 - 18/9/17

[See Blog # 1, Part I, Above]

The Day of Rd. 1 - Early Morning

My main principal residence is in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and that is where I am at the moment.

I went to bed about midnight today, but woke up early @ 4:30 AM. I lay in bed for about 15 min., hoping to go back to sleep - vain hope - so at 4:45 AM I got up and went to my home office and started up the old laptop. I then went to get my morning coffee.

As those who have read my blogs before know, I have a kind of morning routine I follow, whether I am playing chess tournaments or not. So what I did was:

1. Checked for e-mails and Fb messages;
2. Checked new posts/comments on CT;
3. Updated this Fb world events/life discussion group that I have created here on my own personal Fb account, called PEERS (A Discussion Club of Equals) - Fb URL above. I do this by checking some of my Fb friends timelines for posts to "share to PEERS" and my Twitter inbox for articles to re-post onto PEERS.
4. If there were chess posts of interest, I shared them to my Fb Chess Chat group - see Fb URL above.

Sometime during this process, I got my breakfast and ate it at the computer. As well, I tend to go back and forth from my routine items to do my own personal life tasks to be done that day.

Afternoon

About noon, I head out to do a number of errands - drugstore, bank, get a 2019 organizer at Staples, get my watch fixed (Hudson's Bay), and check out a new coffee shop where a chess friend and I have arranged to meet.

At 73 y.o., and given that I often sleep short compared to many in the morning night, I have found that the European/Latin American practice of a siesta time in mid-afternoon works really well (I usually set the alarm and do not sleep more than 1 hour). So I hit the sack between 3-4 PM.

Then when I got up, I helped my wife organize for her upcoming pottery sale (She is an amateur potter, and sells her ceramics at three sales per year).

Heading Out for Rd. 1

I usually go by car to ACC, and leave about 5:20 PM. I get there and parked at 6:00 PM (My favourite spot). Then I go to a local kind of retro diner just below Bloor St. for a light dinner, and then to the Green Beanery for a coffee for half an hour (corner of Bloor St. and Bathurst St). At shortly after 7:00 PM I walk up to ACC and socialize for about 20 min. 'til the round starts.

U 1800 Section Chess Report on Rd. 1 on Sept. 17, 2018.

My U 1800 Section

I am rated 1519. I am ranked # 10 out of 20 players (In the middle third).

Rating Spread

1600’s – 7
1500’s – 4 (my rating is here)
1400’s – 6
1300’s - 2 (Playing up)
1200’s – 1 (Special Playing up - for even number of players)

Total - 20

U 1800 Standings After Rd. 1

There were 9 boards in the section (The actual number of boards may have playing fewer than the total no. of players, due to byes, withdrawals, suspensions, etc.).

Here are the results:

1 pt. - 7 players
.5 pts. - 6 players
0 pts. - 7 players

(NOTE: In future Blogs, I will be naming the leaders, when there are fewer in the lead).

My Round 1 Game

I (1519) played Black on Bd. 1 (Out of 9). I drew against the top seed, Danilo Baguinat (1657).

The game was equal out of the opening. But in the middle game, I went down a P (A friend of mine said I gave the P away; I had calculated a number of moves earlier, before losing the P, that from that position it was already too late not to lose one P somewhere, but maybe my calculation was off - I have to analyze the game with Stockfish, my analysis engine). In any event, I then played Danilo dead equal until we got down to R + K, with each having 1 P blocked by the other, and him having a Passed P on the 7th rank, with my K stopping it from queening by being on b8. At move 83(!) we each had Q + K, and agreed to a draw. Of some note is that Danilo used only 19 min. on his clock (! - plus increment), while I had used just an hour (Plus increment). I hope the quality of the game is as good as the speed at which it was played.

My Score

.5/1 pts. (50%): Draw: 1 (Rd. 1).

My Opponents & My Scores

.5/1 pts. – Danilo Baguinat (1657). I drew in Rd. 1.
- Me (1519).

Full Results

See ChessResults website (Canada): http://chess-results.com/fed.aspx?lan=1&fed=CAN

Bob A

**Henri Hughes** · Tuesday, 18th September, 2018, 12:59 PM

I really like your blog regarding your tournaments its interesting for many id imagine to see into the mind of a lower rated player rather then always hearing about 2000+ players, keep it up!!

**Bob Armstrong** · Tuesday, 18th September, 2018, 08:11 PM

Hi Henri:

thanks for the encouragement - will do!

Bob A

**Bob Armstrong** · Tuesday, 25th September, 2018, 01:37 PM

Annex Chess Club Changing Leaves Swiss - Blog [Part I of 2 Parts]
Rd. 2 - 18/9/24

Bob's Chess Blog # 2
(See Knight Logo below)

Club

Annex Chess Club, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

(See logo below)
(ACC Website: http://annexchessclub.com/)
(ACC Fb Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/172335039452033/)

Joining

Lots of room and so ACC WELCOMES all new members. You can inquire about joining at the general ACC e-mail address: info@annexchessclub.com. You can join a tournament in progress….you will get ½ pt. byes for the missed rounds (Only two consecutive).

Bob's Blog

For a number of years now, I have been posting my chess blog:

i) on my personal Facebook Account for my over 800 Fb friends from around the world: https://www.facebook.com/bob.armstrong.9235;
ii) sometimes on the national Canadian chess discussion board, Chess Talk [CT] (https://forum.chesstalk.com/…/193542-henry-dark-knight-admi…);
iii) occasionally on other chess websites, such as that of FQE (Province of Quebec's Chess Association).

More recently I also have been "re-posting" my Fb blog:

i) on my Fb chess discussion group, Chess Chat - A Project of Chess Companions of Caissa (https://www.facebook.com/groups/340524269771672/);
ii) my Annex CC tournaments Fb blog to ACC's Fb Group (URL above);
iii) my Scarborough CC tournaments Fb Blog to SCC's Fb Page (https://www.facebook.com/ScarboroughChessClub/)

Henry (Aka Dark Knight), the recently new owner of CT, and I have an agreement (From the summer of 2018) that I will re-post my Fb Blogs on CT for both my chess club official tournaments, and my non-club weekend (Sometimes longer; sometimes shorter) tournaments, in which I play between Summer 2018 and Summer 2019. After that, Henry and I can then renew our agreement for another year if we both so wish.

So, under this agreement, most recently I have been re-posting my current Scarborough CC and Annex CC tournaments. My future weekend blogs to and including Summer 2019 will be (Given my current schedule):

1. The 2018 Hart House Holidays Open (Prior to Christmas - Dec. 14-16);
2. The 2019 Hart House Reading Week Open (Usually on the Family Day Holiday Weekend in February).
3. The 2019 Quebec Open (July).
4. The 2019 Toronto Open (Sept.)

The Blog Focus

I mainly focus on the section I am playing in (Has been U 2000, U 1900 or U 1800). I feel that these class sections are often not covered by chess media, and yet, the bulk of chess tournament players are in these classes and under. And many of my class viewers have actually played players about whom I am blogging (Ones I play and ones with whom I may socialize during the tournament, who then are mentioned in the Blog). So this adds a bit more interest for them.

I do also cover (Bare Bones) the top section standings each blog, and in the last blog, the winners of all sections.

I do hope my blogs will continue to provide a window onto class tournament chess, and what THIS chess player does in tournaments between and before rounds (A bit of my personal life). I know many other chess players approach tournaments quite differently than I do, and so one cannot generalize from what I do.

Blog Feedback

Over the years, and in these more recent blogs, I have had generally positive feedback on my blogging, on both my own Fb Accounts, the ACC & SCC Fb accounts, and on CT.

It has been said that my writing style is easy to read, factual, and often entertaining. It is a find for all us "nosy" chess players!

Thanks to all those who have supported my Blogging on various sites, and kept encouraging me to continue.

The Tournament - ACC Changing Leaves Swiss

This is the 6th regular swiss tournament at ACC in 2018.

It is a 5-round swiss that runs from Sept. 27 - Oct. 22 (ACC closed for Mon., Oct. 8 Thanksgiving Holiday). There are three sections: Crown; U 1800; U 1400.
All sections are CFC-rated. Time control is G/90 + 30 sec. (From move 1). Players within 100 pts. of the floor of the section above have the option to play up, and most do.

Notes:

1. The summer format: Crown (1700 +); U 1700 - where there are usually fewer players; right to play up.
2. The Club Championship has only 2 sections (so lower two sections' players get to play some different opponents): Championship (1800+); Reserves (U 1800); 1700’s have option to play up and usually do.
3. For a short time in 2017, Swisses had 4 sections: Master (2200 +); U 2200; U 1800; U 1400. Players within 100 pts. had the option to play up, and most did. It was temporarily shelved because the top two sections each had too few players; it will be reconsidered if the membership grows, and gets stronger.

Tournaments Registration History

2015

2015 Average per tournament: 54 registrations (Based on the last three tournaments of 2015 – highest yearly average since we started keeping records).

2016

Back to the Grind Swiss – 48 registrations (Peak registration for 2016)

2016 Average per tournament: 43 registrations (Down significantly from the prior year - 54).

2017

Peak registrations for 2017:

Club Championship – 60! registrants: Championship (1800+): 20; Reserves (U 1800): 40.
Summer in the City Swiss – 60! registrants: Masters 8; U 2200 – 7; U 1800 – 10; U 1400 – 12.

2017 Average per Tournament – 53 registrants (2nd highest since keeping records here)

2018 (Current)

# 1 – Get the Skates On Swiss – 52 registrants: Crown: 13; U 1800: 19; U 1400: 20.
# 2 – ACC Club Championships – 51 registrants: Championship (1800+): 14; Reserve (Under 1800): 37.
# 3 – Spring Thaw Swiss – 45 registrants: Top: 25; U 1400: 20.
# 4 – Smash Crash Swiss – 42 registrants: Top: 27; U 1400: 15
# 5 – Strawberry Festival Swiss – 45 registrants: Crown: 9; U 1800: 21; U 1400: 15.

2018 Average per Tournament (5 tournaments): 47 registrants (Slightly below the 2017 Average of 53)

# 6 - Changing Leaves Swiss - 42 registrants (so far): Crown: 9; U 1800: 20; U 1400: 14.

NOTE:
ACC tends to pick up a number of new players during the course of its tournaments, so we can expect this registration to rise.

[See Part II Below]

Bob A

**Bob Armstrong** · Tuesday, 25th September, 2018, 01:39 PM

Annex Chess Club Changing Leaves Swiss - Blog [Part II of 2 Parts]
Rd. 2 - 18/9/24

[See Part I Above]

Bob's Chess Blog # 2
(See Knight Logo below)

The Day of Rd. 2 - Early Monday Morning

My main principal residence is in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and that is where I am posting from at the moment.

I went to bed about midnight Monday, but woke up early @ 4:30 AM. I lay in bed for about 15 min., hoping to go back to sleep - vain hope - so at 4:45 AM I got up and went to my home office and started up the old laptop. I then went to get my morning coffee.

As those who have read my blogs before know, I have a kind of morning routine I follow, whether I am playing chess tournaments or not. So what I did was:

1. Checked for e-mails and Fb messages;
2. Checked new posts/comments on CT;
3. Checked my Twitter feed to see what had been happening in the world (I follow numerous mainstream media from countries around the world, such as CBC, NBC, The New York Times, The Washington Post, France 24, China Daily, Al Jezeera (English), Japan Times, The Guardian, etc.)
4. Updated this Fb world events/life discussion group that I have created here on my own personal Fb account, called PEERS (A Discussion Club of Equals) - Fb URL above. I do this by checking some of my Fb friends timelines for posts to "share to PEERS" and my Twitter inbox for articles to re-post onto PEERS.
5. Found at least one chess post that I could re-post to my Fb Chess Chat group - see Fb URL above.

Sometime during this process, I got my breakfast and ate it at the computer. As well, I went back and forth between my routine items above and my own personal life tasks to be done that day.

Late Morning

About 9:00 AM, I had to unpack our car.....on Sunday night late we returned from our hobby farm (Spirits' Den) 3 hours northwest of Toronto, and we were so exhausted, we had only unpacked what we absolutely needed.

I then continued my routine & household stuff.

Then at 11:00 AM I had to do two errands: drugstore & bank.

Afternoon

When I returned home, my wife was cooking up a stew, using our own organic potatoes, organic green beans and organic garlic that we had harvested this year from our raised vegetable garden beds at Spirits' Den. Then she was on the phone for a while with our adult daughter who lives in Montreal.

At 73 y.o., and given that I often sleep short compared to many in the morning night, I have found that the European/Latin American practice of a siesta time in mid-afternoon works really well (I usually set the alarm and do not sleep more than 1 hour). So I hit the sack between 1-2 PM.

When I awoke, my wife and I went over some financial matters, and she signed some papers I had had prepared for her at the bank in the morning. Then I went back over to the bank to deliver them.

When I returned, my wife and I had an early supper - some of our delicious Spirits' Den stew that she had cooked up in the morning. My wife, who is an amateur potter, and belongs to a potters' cooperative (Professionals, semi-professionals and some amateurs) here in Toronto, had prepared all her stuff to go over to her co-op studio, to do some throwing and slab building, and to attend in the evening their co-op members' meeting. So I then drove her over to the coop studio.

Heading Out for Rd. 2

From my wife's studio, I then headed downtown to ACC by car. I got there about 5:30 PM - a bit earlier than usual because of having to drop my wife off (I usually get there about 6:00 PM).

I then went to my favourite local coffee shop, the Green Beanery, for a coffee and muffin (corner of Bloor St. and Bathurst St). At this time, I relax a bit before the game, and update my "Reminder Lists" - I have a medically defective memory, that requires me to keep notes about what I am having to do, otherwise it all just falls below the radar, and some things I will remember, and many I will not. At shortly after 7:00 PM I walked up to ACC.

Pre-Round 2

I usually get to ACC about 20 min. early to give me some time to socialize a bit before the round begins.

I sat down with Dave Southam, who is a national master playing in the Crown section, and who I also know from both of us playing also at the Scarborough CC. We chatted about the World Chess Olympiad currently being played, and about my wife's upcoming pottery sales (Dave knows of my wife's potting). Then John Fines, also in the Crown Section, joined us, and we looked at a common line of the Caro-Kann Defence he was exploring.

Round 2

The pairings were posted shortly after 7:30 PM and the round started after a few announcements.

After my game, I watched a number of the games still in progress for about 3/4 hr., and then headed home.

The Later Evening

I got home about 11:15 PM, and was pretty exhausted (My wife and I had done a lot of physical labour the weekend before at Spirits' Den, planting 2 raised beds of garlic, and mulching it, and turning over a third bed preparing it to be put to bed for the winter). I was in bed at 11:30 PM (Early for me). I was too tired to do this Blog, which I would usually start, at least, the night of the game.

The Wee Hours of Tuesday Morning

I woke up at 4:30 AM! I lay there for a bit, but I wasn't going to go back to sleep. So out to my home-office and fired up the old laptop, and started my usual morning routine, set up on-line banking for my wife on her account on our laptop and started this Blog # 2.

At 6:45 AM my wife and I had breakfast, and since it was raining, I drove her to her exercise studio, and then went for a coffee at my favourite little local coffee shop, the Last Drop. Then I picked her up, we returned home, and I completed this Blog and got it posted and re-posted.

U 1800 Section Chess Report on Rd. 2 on Monday, Sept. 24, 2018.

My Section – U 1800 Section

I am rated 1519. I am ranked # 10 out of 20 players (In the middle third).

Rating Spread

1600’s – 7
1500’s – 4 (my rating is here)
1400’s – 6
1300’s - 2 (Playing up)
1200’s – 1 (Special Playing up - for even number of players)

Total - 20

U 1800 Standings After Rd. 2

There were 8 boards in the section (The actual number of boards may have playing fewer than the total no. of players, due to byes, withdrawals, suspensions, etc.).

Here are the Leaders:

1st/2nd - 2 pts. - Ayo Ogunlana (1586); Junior Girl Lucy Gao (1479).

3rd/7th - 1.5 pts. - Danilo Baguinat (1657 - top seed); Me (1519); Lorne Schwartz (1496); Junior Boy Dong Yiwei (1459); Junior Boy Victor Stroganov (1409).

My Round 2 Game

I (1519) played White on Bd. 3 (Out of 8). I won against Evgeny Kalmanson (1395).

The game was equal out of the opening, with me developing a K-side attack early. But Evgeny defended actively, and opened lines for his pieces to get to defensive positions, and to allow him a possible counter-attack in the centre (I had castled long).

But at a critical moment of my attack, Evgeny moved his Q to defend the position. Moving the R was much better, and may have allowed him to hold (I need to analyze with my chess engine, Stockfish, to confirm this). But the Q was able to be harassed, and at the same time I was able to incrementally increase my K-side attack. Soon I had won the exchange plus a P. Additionally, having been defending, Evgeny's QR was still back on a8, undeveloped. So I then offered a P-sac....Evgeny took it, but it was poisoned, and soon he had to sac his Q to stop a mate, so he resigned.

My Score

1.5/2 pts. (75%): Win: 1 (Rd. 2); Draw: 1 (Rd. 1).

My Opponents' & My Scores

1.5/2 pts. – Danilo Baguinat (1657). I drew in Rd. 1.
- Me (1519).
1 pt. - Evgeny Kalmanson (1395). I won in Rd. 2.

Full Results

See ChessResults website (Canada): http://chess-results.com/fed.aspx?lan=1&fed=CAN

A Less Important (!!) Section: Crown (1800+ -– 9 players; 4 boards).

Leaders

1st/2nd - 2 pts. - Michael Humphreys (2341 - former Club Champion); Junior Boy Sergey Noritsyn (2300).

Invitation

I am most happy to interact with readers re anything about which I have posted.....so react, comment, reply, post, etc. - both favourable comments and constructive criticism....I will do my best to respond to everyone. So jump in with both feet, and we'll all enjoy the blogging adventure!

Bob A

**Bob Armstrong** · 2018-09-26T15:25:58

Re ACC Blog # 2

Over the years of my Blogging, from time to time readers have asked me to include the actual game score in the Blog, for the game I have been verbally describing. I am told that my style of play leads to quite interesting positions, even if they have arisen from unsound "class" play. And I am pleased to put the game in, whether won, drawn or lost.

I have always intended to do this, but there was a time issue, with my own set deadline of trying to get my Blog out by 11:59 PM of the day of the game.

But I have decided the inclusion of the game is an important addition, even if it may mean my Blog does not get posted 'til the day after the round.

So in the interim, here is the game Armstrong - Kalmanson referred to in Blog # 2 above.

It is from a ChessBase games database - the Code is:

$ 1 - !
$ 18 - W has a "winning" advantage

[Event "Annex CC Changing Leaves (U 1800)"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2018.09.24"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Armstrong, Robert J."]
[Black "Kalmanson, Evgeny"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E81"]
[WhiteElo "1519"]
[BlackElo "1395"]
[Annotator "Armstrong, Robert J."]
[PlyCount "53"]
[EventDate "2018.09.24"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "5"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f3 O-O 6. Be3 c6 7. Nge2 e5 8. d5 c5
9. g4 h6 10. h4 Nh7 11. Ng3 f5 12. gxf5 gxf5 13. exf5 Bxf5 14. Qd2 Qf6 15. Nh5
Qf7 16. Nxg7 Kxg7 17. Bxh6+ {I go up a P} Kh8 18. Bxf8 Qxf8 {I am up the
exchange + P} 19. O-O-O Nd7 20. Bd3 Bxd3 21. Qxd3 Ndf6 22. Ne4 Qh6+ 23. Kb1 Nh5
24. Ng5 $1 Nxg5 25. hxg5 Qxg5 26. Rdg1 Qh6 27. Rg6 $18 {mate in 15 moves} 1-0

Hope this is considered a worthwhile addition to my Blog. In future it will actually appear in the Blog, along with my early (Engine unanalyzed) perception of how the game went, verbally (And sometimes Stockfish explains to me how wrongly I perceived the ongoing game!).

Bob A

**Bob Armstrong** · Saturday, 29th September, 2018, 04:04 AM

There will be no Blog for Rd. 3 (Oct. 1/18) since I will be taking a "bye".

Bob A

**Bob Armstrong** · Tuesday, 16th October, 2018, 03:20 PM

Annex Chess Club Changing Leaves Swiss - Blog (Part I of 2 parts)

Rd. 4 - 18/10/15

Bob's Chess Blog # 3

(See Knight Logo below)

Club

Annex Chess Club, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

(See logo below)

(ACC Website: http://annexchessclub.com/)

(ACC Fb Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/172335039452033/)

Note: The next sections, down to the registration history for this current first tournament of the season, are a template. I repeat them in each Blog....I cannot simply refer new readers to my prior Blog # 2. It is too much to expect new readers to scroll down my Facebook timeline to find my Blog # 2, which by now is practically down far enough to be burning in the fires of you-know-where.

At the same time, it must be here for any new readers of my Blog.

So I ask my regular readers to be tolerant, and you can skip the template parts (I will alert you if there are any revisions of the template).

Template Begins

Bob's Blog

For a number of years now, I have been posting my chess blog:

i) on my personal Facebook Account for my almost 850 Fb friends from around the world: https://www.facebook.com/bob.armstrong.9235;

ii) sometimes on the national Canadian chess discussion board, Chess Talk [CT] (https://forum.chesstalk.com/forum/ch...hess-needs!=);

iii) occasionally on other chess websites, such as that of FQE (Province of Quebec's Chess Association).

More recently I also have been "re-posting" my Fb blog:

i) on my Fb chess discussion group, Chess Chat - A Project of Chess Companions of Caissa (https://www.facebook.com/groups/340524269771672/);

ii) my Scarborough CC tournaments Fb Blog to SCC's Fb Page (URL above)

iii) my Annex CC tournaments Fb blog to ACC's Fb Group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/172335039452033/);

Henry Lendryhl (Aka Dark Knight), the recently new owner of CT, and I have an agreement (From the summer of 2018) that I will re-post my Fb Blogs on CT for both my chess club official tournaments, and my non-club weekend (Sometimes longer; sometimes shorter) tournaments, in which I play between Summer 2018 and Summer 2019. After that, Henry and I can then renew our agreement for another year if we both so wish.

So, under this agreement, most recently I have been re-posting my current Scarborough CC and Annex CC tournaments. My future weekend blogs to and including Summer 2019 will be (Given my current schedule):

1. The 2018 Hart House Holidays Open (Prior to Christmas - Dec. 14-16);

2. The 2019 Hart House Reading Week Open (Usually on the Family Day Holiday Weekend in February).

3. The 2019 Quebec Open (July) - if in Montreal.

4. The 2019 Toronto Open (Sept.)

The Blog Focus

I mainly focus on the section I am playing in (Has been U 2000, U 1900 or U 1800). I feel that these class sections are often not covered by chess media, and yet, the bulk of chess tournament players are in these classes and under. And many of my class viewers have actually played players about whom I am blogging (Ones I play and ones with whom I may socialize during the tournament, who then are mentioned in the Blog). So this adds a bit more interest for them.

I do also cover (Bare Bones) the top section standings each blog, and the other two junior sections, if I have the results by the time my Blog goes to press.

I do hope my blogs will continue to provide a window onto class tournament chess, and what THIS chess player does in the day of club tournaments, and before and between rounds for weekend tournaments (A bit of my personal life). I know many other chess players approach tournaments quite differently than I do, and so one cannot generalize from what I do.

Blog Feedback

Over the years, and in these more recent blogs, I have had generally positive feedback on my blogging, on both my own Fb Accounts, the SCC & ACC Fb sites, and on CT.

It has been said that my writing style is easy to read, factual, and often entertaining. It is a find for all us "nosy" chess players!

Thanks to all those who have supported my Blogging on various sites, and kept encouraging me to continue.

Joining Annex CC

Lots of room and so ACC WELCOMES all new members. You can inquire about joining at the general ACC e-mail address: info@annexchessclub.com. You can join a tournament in progress….you will get ½ pt. byes for the missed rounds (Only two consecutive).

The Tournament - ACC Changing Leaves Swiss

This is the 6th regular swiss tournament at ACC in 2018.

It is a 5-round swiss that runs from Sept. 27 - Oct. 22 (ACC closed for Mon., Oct. 8 Thanksgiving Holiday). There are three sections: Crown; U 1800; U 1400. All sections are CFC-rated. Time control is G/90 + 30 sec. (From move 1). Players within 100 pts. of the floor of the section above have the option to play up, and most do.

Notes:

1. The summer format: Crown (1700 +); U 1700 - where there are usually fewer players; right to play up.

2. The Club Championship has only 2 sections (so lower two sections' players get to play some different opponents): Championship (1800+); Reserves (U 1800); 1700’s have option to play up and usually do.

3. For a short time in 2017, Swisses had 4 sections: Master (2200 +); U 2200; U 1800; U 1400. Players within 100 pts. had the option to play up, and most did. It was temporarily shelved because the top two sections each had too few players; it will be reconsidered if the membership grows, and gets stronger.

Tournaments Registration History

2015

2015 Average per tournament: 54 registrations (Based on the last three tournaments of 2015 – highest yearly average since we started keeping records).

2016

Back to the Grind Swiss – 48 registrations (Peak registration for 2016)

2016 Average per tournament: 43 registrations (Down significantly from the prior year - 54).

2017

Peak registrations for 2017:

Club Championship – 60! registrants: Championship (1800+): 20; Reserves (U 1800): 40.

Summer in the City Swiss – 60! registrants: Masters 8; U 2200 – 7; U 1800 – 10; U 1400 – 12.

2017 Average per Tournament – 53 registrants (2nd highest since keeping records here)

2018 (Current)

# 1 – Get the Skates On Swiss – 52 registrants: Crown: 13; U 1800: 19; U 1400: 20.

# 2 – ACC Club Championships – 51 registrants: Championship (1800+): 14; Reserve (Under 1800): 37.

# 3 – Spring Thaw Swiss – 45 registrants: Top: 25; U 1400: 20.

# 4 – Smash Crash Swiss – 42 registrants: Top: 27; U 1400: 15

# 5 – Strawberry Festival Swiss – 45 registrants: Crown: 9; U 1800: 21; U 1400: 15.

2018 Average per Tournament (5 tournaments): 47 registrants (Slightly below the 2017 Average of 53)

End of Template

# 6 - Changing Leaves Swiss - 53 registrants (so far): Crown: 12; U 1800: 23; U 1400: 18.

NOTE:

ACC tends to pick up a number of new players during the course of its tournaments, so we can expect this registration to rise.

The Day of Rd. 4

Early Monday Morning

My main principal residence is in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and that is where I am posting from at the moment.

As those who have read my blogs before know, I have a kind of morning routine I follow, whether I am playing chess tournaments or not:

1. Check for e-mails and Fb messages;

2. Check new posts/comments on CT;

3. Checked my Twitter feed to see what had been happening in the world (I follow numerous mainstream media from countries around the world, such as CBC, NBC, The New York Times, The Washington Post, France 24, China Daily, Al Jezeera (English), Japan Times, Sputnik News, The Guardian, etc.)

4. Update my company's Fb page, Canadian Life Consulting (CLC) - https://www.facebook.com/Canadian-Li...4065437044857/. I do this by checking some of my Fb friends timelines for posts to "share" and my Twitter inbox for articles to re-post onto CLC.

5. Update the discussion group formed under my company page, called Canadian Life Consulting Cooperative Supporters' Group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/2042495809374373/. I update it by sharing some more discussable of the posts now on the CFC page.

6. Update this Fb world events/life discussion group that I have created here on my own personal Fb account, called PEERS (A Discussion Club of Equals) - Fb URL above. I do this by also sharing some of the CLC page posts. But I also share some of my sources posts directly to this discussion club.

7. I share at least one chess post per day to my Fb Chess Chat group, formed under my personal Fb account - see Fb URL above.

8. When I find them, I share discussable religious posts to my religious Fb Group, Theist Community - https://www.facebook.com/groups/1052227598173591/. Sometimes these also appear in PEERS.

Sometime during this process, I usually get my breakfast and eat it at the computer, if my wife is not yet up. As well, I go back and forth between my routine items above and my own personal life tasks to be done that day.

[See Part II below]

Bob

**Bob Armstrong** · Tuesday, 16th October, 2018, 03:30 PM

Annex Chess Club Changing Leaves Swiss - Blog (Part II of 2 parts)

Rd. 4 - 18/10/15

Bob's Chess Blog # 3 (Cont'd)

[See Part I above]

Pottery

My wife, as I mentioned, has as a hobby, doing pottery. She belongs to a pottery cooperative here in Toronto. And their big Fall sale is in a few weeks, in November. So she had to get into their work studio to bring in about 25 pieces of her pottery to be photographed, for advertising purposes (All the potters get some of their work photographed). So I helped her choose some pieces, and packed them for transport to the coop workshop.

The Afternoon

My wife then took a 1 hr. siesta nap, and I did some more work on the laptop.

Then at 2:00 PM, I then drove her and her pieces to the pottery coop. I then went for an early dinner at my local A & W (I am a fast food junkie, I willingly admit).

I then came home and worked for a while on my retiree Fb projects.

At 73 y.o., and given that I often sleep short compared to many in the morning night, I have found that the European/Latin American practice of a siesta time in mid-afternoon works really well (I usually set the alarm and do not sleep more than 1 hour). So I hit the sack between 4 -5 PM.

The Evening - Heading Out for Rd. 4

About 5:30 PM, I then headed downtown to ACC by car.

I then went to my favourite local coffee shop, the Green Beanery, for a coffee (corner of Bloor St. and Bathurst St). At this time, I relax a bit before the game, and update my "Reminder Lists" - I have a medically defective memory, that requires me to keep notes about what I am having to do, otherwise it all just falls below the radar, and some things I will remember, and many I will not. At shortly after 7:00 PM I walked up to ACC.

Pre-Round 4

I usually get to ACC about 20 min. early to give me some time to socialize a bit before the round begins.

I talked briefly with Evgeny Kalmanson, who I had played in Rd. 2. I then chatted with Dave Southam, who is a national master playing in the Crown section, about my retiree project - he is a Fb member. We also chatted about my wife's potting - he knows a bit from prior chats we've had.

Round 4

The pairings were posted dead on 7:30 PM and the round started after a few announcements.

After my game, I watched a number of the games still in progress for about 3/4 hr., and then headed home.

The Late Evening

I got home about 11:15 PM, and was pretty exhausted. So, somewhat unusual for me, I was in bed at 11:30 PM. I had been too tired to do this Blog, which I would usually do the night of the game, sometimes into the wee hours of the next morning.

The Wee Hours of This Morning (Tuesday)

I woke up with our alarm going off @ 6:15 AM. I got up, dressed and went to my home office and started up the old laptop. I just started into my normal morning routine.

But this morning I had only a short time at the computer before I had to go out.

Out Early

This morning again my wife and I had breakfast together, but this time neither of us were yet up to dealing with the cold (About 5 degrees Celsius in Toronto). So I drove her there again today.

Then I headed again for my favourite local coffee shop and chatted with the 4 regulars I meet on my shift. I then went back and picked up my wife, and we got home a bit before 9:00 AM.

At Home for Tuesday Morning

I then continued on where I had left off earlier this morning with my routine for my own projects.

Then we Skyped with our son in Montreal, Quebec, and our 2 3/4 y.o. granddaughter. We just had a short visit, since our granddaughter was off to music/singing class. She loves music and to sing and dance.

Next my wife wanted to check our schedule for the rest of the year - we live effectively in two places in Ontario and one in Quebec during the year, and with my chess hobby and her pottery hobby, we need to know what times need protection from our regular life commitments coming up.

This turned out very beneficial for both of us, but especially me! We were supposed to be heading for our hobby farm, Spirits' Den, about 3 hrs. northwest of Toronto, on Friday for three days. But we had to rearrange our schedule, such that we were now going to be in Toronto for this coming weekend. I just happened to know (!) that the Aurora Fall Chess Tournament was on this coming weekend (Being held in Newmarket, Ontario, because they had outgrown their Aurora normal location). So I went quickly to the computer and registered!

My wife then had to go to the pottery cooperative workshop - members have jobs, and she had one to do, as well as to do some creating for the upcoming sale. So I drove her over, and then I had to do four errands to do.

Afternoon

I then got home, and finally got to do this Blog # 3, and got it posted about 3:00 PM.

U 1800 Section Chess Report on Rd. 4 on Monday, Oct. 15, 2018.

My Section – U 1800 Section

I am rated 1519. I am ranked # 10 out of 23 players (In the middle third).

Rating Spread

1600’s – 7
1500’s – 5 (my rating is here)
1400’s – 7
1300’s - 3 (Playing up)
1200’s – 1 (Special Playing up - for even number of players in Rd. 1)

Total - 23

U 1800 Standings After Rd. 4

There were 9 boards in the section (The actual number of boards may have playing fewer than the total no. of players, due to byes, withdrawals, suspensions, etc.).

Here are the Leaders:

1st/3rd - 2.5/4 pts. - Ayo Ogunlana (1586); Lorne Schwartz (1496); Junior Girl Lucy Gao (1479).

My Round 4 Game

I (1519) played Black on Bd. 3 (Out of 9). I drew against Robert Bentley (1609).

I got an advantage right out of the opening, when Robert miscalculated and lost a centre P, which I quickly cemented into place. It also gave me control of the centre, and Robert found himself defending and being cramped for a lot of the first part of the game. But he managed to start a counter-attack against my K-side, but I defended, and we went into an ending, me still a P up. I was likely going to win.

Then I blundered and left a center-P hanging. So back to material equality. But I then managed to go up a P again, but this time the position was such that he could hold. We both ended up having to shuffle K's with nothing to be done and we drew on move 49.

Note: I am now putting my actual game scores right into the Blog; but at the moment I am having trouble with my ChessBase/Stockfish program (Won't save my game when entered). I'll be including the score when I resolve this problem.

My Score

2/4 pts. (50%): Win: 1 (Rd. 2); Draws: 2 (Rds. 1 & 4); Bye: 1 (Rd. 3).

My Opponents' & My Scores

2/4 pts. – Danilo Baguinat (1657). I drew in Rd. 1.
- Robert Bentley (1609). I drew in Rd. 4.
- Me (1519).

.5/4 pts. - Evgeny Kalmanson (1395). I won in Rd. 2.

Full Results

See ChessResults website (Canada): http://chess-results.com/fed.aspx?lan=1&fed=CAN

The Less Important (!!) Sections' Leaders:

i) Crown (1800+: 12 players; 6 boards).

1st/2nd - 3.5/4 pts. - Undefeated - Michael Humphreys (2341 - former Club Champion); Junior Boy Sergey Noritsyn (2300).

3rd - 3/4 pts. - Dave Southam (2083 - National Master)

ii) U 1400 (18 players; 7 boards)

1st/2nd - 3/4 pts. - Mark Patton (1167); Ambarish Chandra (1135)

3rd/5th - 2.5/4 pts. - Alexis Stefanovich-Thomson (1311); Junior Boy Ivan Noritsyn (1015); Carina D'Souza (762).

Invitation

I am most happy to interact with readers re anything about which I have posted.....so react, comment, reply, post, etc. - both favourable comments and constructive criticism....I will do my best to respond to everyone. So jump in with both feet, and we'll all enjoy the blogging adventure!

Bob A

**Bob Armstrong** · Tuesday, 16th October, 2018, 10:09 PM

Here is my game with Robert Bentley referred to in Blog # 3 above:

[Event "Annex CC Changing Leaves (U 1800)"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2018.10.15"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Bentley, Robert"]
[Black "Armstrong, Robert J."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B27"]
[WhiteElo "1609"]
[BlackElo "1519"]
[Annotator "Doe,John"]
[PlyCount "96"]
[EventDate "2018.10.15"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "5"]

Code:

$ 1 - !
$ 4 - ??
$ 11 - =
$ 15 - "slight" advantage to Black
$ 17 - "clear" advantage to Black

1. e4 $11 {for analysis of the first 10 moves, see Early Modern Defence opening book} g6 2. d4 Bg7 3. Nf3 c5 4. Nc3 Qa5 5. Bd2 cxd4 {I go up a P} 6. Nd5 Qd8 7. Bf4 d6 8. Bb5+ Bd7 9. Bxd7+ Qxd7 10. O-O e5 $15 11. Bg5 h6 12. Bd2 Ne7 13. Nh4 Nbc6 14. f4 Nxd5 15. exd5 Ne7 16. Qf3 Nf5 17. Nxf5 Qxf5 18. Qb3 Qd7 19. fxe5 dxe5 20. d6 O-O 21. Rae1 Kh7 22. Rf3 f5 23. Rh3 h5 24. Bg5 Qxd6 25. Qxb7 Qb6 26. Rb3 Qxb7 27. Rxb7 e4 28. b3 Kg8 29. Rd7 Rf7 30. Rd6 Kh7 31. Kf2 Rc8 32. Re2 Rc3 33. Ke1 Rfc7 34. Kd1 Bh6 $4 $17 {Loses a P, but I have a "clear" advantage.} 35. Bxh6 Kxh6 36. Rxd4 {material equality} Kg5 37. a4 a5 38. Rd5 R3c5 39. Rxc5 Rxc5 40. Re3 Kf4 41. Kd2 Rxc2+ $1 {I go up a P again} 42. Kxc2 Kxe3 43. b4 Kd4 44. b5 Kc5 45. Kd2 f4 46. h4 Kb6 47. Kc3 Kc5 48. Kd2 Kb6 { I offered a draw - though up a P, moving any P loses. Robert accepted.} 1/2-1/2

**Bob Armstrong** · Tuesday, 23rd October, 2018, 09:17 PM

Annex Chess Club Changing Leaves Swiss - Blog

Rd. 5 - 18/10/22

Bob's Chess Blog # 4 (Part I of 2 Parts)

(See Knight Logo below)

Note:

1. This Blog on my personal Facebook page is re-posted a few other places - so references refer to this platform.

2. The first sections, down to the registration history for this current tournament, are a template. I repeat them in each Blog....I cannot simply refer new readers to my prior Blog # 3. It is too much to expect new readers to scroll down my Facebook timeline to find my Blog # 3, which by now is practically down far enough to be burning in the fires of you-know-where.

At the same time, the template must be here for any new readers of my Blog.

So I ask my regular readers to be tolerant, and you can skip the template parts (I will alert you if there are any revisions of the template).

Template Begins

Club

Annex Chess Club, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

(See logo below)

(ACC Website: http://annexchessclub.com/)

(ACC Fb Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/172335039452033/)

Bob's Blog

For a number of years now, I have been posting my chess blog:

i) on my personal Facebook Account for my almost 850 Fb friends from around the world: https://www.facebook.com/bob.armstrong.9235;

ii) sometimes on the national Canadian chess discussion board, Chess Talk [CT] (https://forum.chesstalk.com/…/chesst...-chess-disc…);

iii) occasionally on other chess websites, such as that of FQE (Province of Quebec's Chess Federation).

More recently I also have been "re-posting" my Fb blog:

i) on my Fb chess discussion group, Chess Chat - A Project of Chess Companions of Caissa (https://www.facebook.com/groups/340524269771672/);

ii) my Scarborough CC tournaments Fb Blog to SCC's Fb Page (https://www.facebook.com/ScarboroughChessClub/)

iii) my Annex CC tournaments Fb blog to ACC's Fb Group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/172335039452033/);

Henry Lam (Aka Dark Knight), the recently new owner of CT, and I have an agreement (From the summer of 2018) that I will re-post my Fb Blogs on CT for both my chess club official tournaments, and my non-club weekend (Sometimes longer; sometimes shorter) tournaments, in which I play between Summer 2018 and Summer 2019. After that, Henry and I can then renew our agreement for another year if we both so wish.

So, under this agreement, most recently I have been re-posting my current Scarborough CC and Annex CC tournaments. My future non-club weekend blogs to and including Summer 2019 will be (Given my current schedule):

1. The 2018 Hart House Holidays Open (Prior to Christmas - Dec. 14-16);
2. The 2019 Hart House Reading Week Open (Usually on the Family Day Holiday Weekend in February).
3. The 2019 Quebec Open (July) - if in Montreal.
4. The 2019 Toronto Open (Sept.)

The Blog Focus

I mainly focus on the section I am playing in (Has been U 2000, U 1900 or U 1800). I feel that these class sections are often not covered by chess media, and yet, the bulk of chess tournament players are in the classes under 1900. And many of my class viewers have actually played players about whom I am blogging (Ones I play and ones with whom I may socialize during the tournament, who then are mentioned in the Blog). So this adds a bit more interest for them.

I do also generally cover (Bare Bones) the top section standings; but I have to have been able to get the results before the Blog goes to press. I sometime will cover also the lower sections, if I have the results. For both, of course, it can be a matter of the time available (I am often doing my Blog in the wee hours of the morning).

I do hope my blogs will continue to provide a window onto class tournament chess, and what THIS chess player does in the day of club tournaments, and before and between rounds for weekend tournaments (A bit of a reality show - bits of my personal life).

I know many other chess players approach tournaments quite differently than I do (E.g. - study!), and so one cannot generalize from what I do.

Blog Feedback

Over the years, and in these more recent blogs, I have had generally positive feedback on my blogging, on both of my own Fb Accounts, the SCC & ACC Fb sites, and on CT.

It has been said that my writing style is easy to read, factual, and often entertaining. It is a find for all us "nosy" chess players!

Thanks to all those who have supported my Blogging on various sites, and kept encouraging me to continue.

Joining Annex CC

Lots of room and so ACC WELCOMES all new members. You can inquire about joining at the general ACC e-mail address: info@annexchessclub.com. You can join a tournament in progress….you will get ½ pt. byes for the missed rounds (Only two).

The Tournament - ACC Changing Leaves Swiss

This is the 6th regular swiss tournament at ACC in 2018.

It is a 5-round swiss that runs from Sept. 27 - Oct. 22 (ACC closed for Mon., Oct. 8 Thanksgiving Holiday). There are three sections: Crown; U 1800; U 1400. All sections are CFC-rated. Time control is G/90 + 30 sec. (From move 1). Players within 100 pts. of the floor of the section above have the option to play up, and most do.

Notes:

1. The summer format: Crown (1700 +); U 1700 - where there are usually fewer players; right to play up.
2. The Club Championship has only 2 sections (so lower two sections' players get to play some different opponents): Championship (1800+); Reserves (U 1800); 1700’s have option to play up and usually do.
3. For a short time in 2017, Swisses had 4 sections: Master (2200 +); U 2200; U 1800; U 1400. Players within 100 pts. had the option to play up, and most did. It was temporarily shelved because the top two sections each had too few players; it will be reconsidered if the membership grows, and gets stronger.

Tournaments Registration History

2015

2015 Average per tournament: 54 registrations (Based on the last three tournaments of 2015 – highest yearly average since we started keeping records).

2016

Back to the Grind Swiss – 48 registrations (Peak registration for 2016)

2016 Average per tournament: 43 registrations (Down significantly from the prior year - 54).

2017

Peak registrations for 2017:

Club Championship – 60! registrants: Championship (1800+): 20; Reserves (U 1800): 40.

Summer in the City Swiss – 60! registrants: Masters 8; U 2200 – 7; U 1800 – 10; U 1400 – 12.

2017 Average per Tournament – 53 registrants (2nd highest since keeping records here)

2018 (Current)

# 1 – Get the Skates On Swiss – 52 registrants: Crown: 13; U 1800: 19; U 1400: 20.

# 2 – ACC Club Championships – 51 registrants: Championship (1800+): 14; Reserve (Under 1800): 37.

# 3 – Spring Thaw Swiss – 45 registrants: Top: 25; U 1400: 20.

# 4 – Smash Crash Swiss – 42 registrants: Top: 27; U 1400: 15

# 5 – Strawberry Festival Swiss – 45 registrants: Crown: 9; U 1800: 21; U 1400: 15.

2018 Average per Tournament (5 tournaments): 47 registrants (Slightly below the 2017 Average of 53)

End of Template

# 6 - Changing Leaves Swiss - 59 registrants: Crown: 14; U 1800: 24; U 1400: 21. This is well above the tournament average for the year so far.

The Day of Rd. 5

Early Monday Morning

My main principal residence is in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and that is where I am posting from at the moment.

I went to bed early on Sunday night (10:30 PM - I had just played in the Aurora Fall Open weekend tournament - 5 games in 2 days), and awoke at 4:30 AM - 6 hours is now about how long I normally sleep (But during weekend tournaments, I often sleep much less).

So I got up, went and got my morning coffee, and went to my home office (I am retired) and fired up my old laptop.

As those who have read my blogs before know, I have a kind of morning routine I follow, whether I am playing chess tournaments or not (Again this is a normal template, and regular readers can skip down to the next section):

1. Check for e-mails and Fb messages;

2. Check new posts/comments on CT;

3. Check my Twitter feed to see what had been happening in the world (I follow numerous mainstream media from countries around the world, such as CBC, NBC, The New York Times, The Washington Post, France 24, China Daily, Al Jezeera (English), Japan Times, Sputnik News, The Guardian, etc.)

4. Update my company's Fb page, Canadian Life Consulting (CLC) - https://www.facebook.com/Canadian-Li...ing-16406543…/. I do this by checking some of my Fb friends timelines for posts to "share" and my Twitter inbox for articles to re-post onto CLC.

5. Update the discussion group formed under my company page, called Canadian Life Consulting Cooperative Supporters' Group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/2042495809374373/. I update it by sharing some more discussable of the posts now on the CFC page. I try to post at least one article each day directed at encouraging "inspired living".

6. Update this Fb world events/life discussion group that I have created here on my own personal Fb account, called PEERS (A Discussion Club of Equals) - Fb URL above. I do this by also sharing some of the CLC page posts. But I also share some of my sources posts directly to this discussion club.

7. I share at least one chess post per day to my Fb Chess Chat group, formed under my personal Fb account - see Fb URL above.

8. When I find them, I share discussable religious posts to my religious Fb Group, Theist Community - https://www.facebook.com/groups/1052227598173591/. Sometimes these also appear in PEERS.

Sometime during this process, I usually get my breakfast and eat it at the computer, if my wife is not yet up. As well, I go back and forth between my routine items above and my own personal life tasks to be done that day.

[See Part II below]

Bob A

**Bob Armstrong** · Tuesday, 23rd October, 2018, 09:26 PM

Annex Chess Club Changing Leaves Swiss - Blog

Rd. 5 - 18/10/22

Bob's Chess Blog # 4 (Part II of 2 Parts)
[See Part I above]

New Addition to the Routine Template

Recently I found that I was spending a lot more time on my two retiree projects than my normal life tasks - don't we all spend more time on what we enjoy!

But I was falling behind in "life" while keeping up in "chess". So I did have to deal with this issue. So I came up with the "25/35 System". What this is: When I am at home, I spend 25 min. on my 2 retiree projects (Facebook & Chess), and then 35 min. on the rest of my life; I even set the alarm! And I try very hard to religiously stop when I am to change phases. This has actually worked out well....I am still abysmally behind in "Life", but not nearly as much as I used to be! LOL

Charging into Monday Morning

So initially I followed my new normal routine.

My wife belongs to an exercise studio about 35 min. walk from our place, so often I walk her there. But her current schedule is very tight, so I drove her there today.

Then I headed for my favourite local coffee shop, where I stop in for a while on the exercise studio mornings, before going home. I met 4 of the regular 7:40 AM to 8:05 AM shift and we chatted about the municipal election today and some other earth-shattering matters. I then went and picked up my wife and we went home.

We did stuff for about an hour, and then walked over to vote in the municipal election - I ended up being the # 1 voter in our ward, and my wife was # 2 (We believe in the principle: Do it early, rather than later, if possible).

Pottery

When we got back home, my wife prepared to go to her cooperative pottery workshop, where she belongs (Has about 50 members)

My wife has as a hobby, doing pottery. She also is retired, and she just does it as an amateur (She is not making her livelihood from it financially, as some of the others are). The coop's big Fall sale is in a few weeks, in November. So she had to get into their work studio to finish some pieces for the sale. Also, as it is a cooperative structure, she had some of her member jobs to do as well.

I came home and dove into my normal routine again.

The Afternoon

At 73 y.o., and given that I often sleep short compared to many in the morning night, I have found that the European/Latin American practice of a siesta time in mid-afternoon works really well (I usually set the alarm and do not sleep more than 1 hour). So I hit the sack between 1 - 2 PM.

Then back to my 25/35 routine.

Then at 4:30 PM, I drove over to the workshop to pick my wife up. While she was finishing her duties, I packed the finished pieces and took them to the car. We got home about 5:30 PM.

Heading Out for Rd. 5

I then headed downtown to ACC by car, got there about 6 PM and my local favourite parking spot was waiting for me.

I then went to my favourite retro restaurant, but Sam had sold out all of his onion rings (They are the greatest - makes them himself).

So I then went to my favourite local coffee shop, the Green Beanery, for a coffee (corner of Bloor St. and Bathurst St). At this time, I relax a bit before the game, and update my "Reminder Lists" - I have a medically defective memory, that requires me to keep notes about what I am having to do, otherwise it all just falls below the radar, and some things I will remember, and many I will not.

My friend who lives over in my area, and who is a member at ACC, Erik Malmsten, joined my for a while, and we chatted about chess and the election that day.

At shortly after 7:00 PM we walked up to ACC.

Pre-Round 5

I usually get to ACC about 20 min. before the round starts to give me some time to socialize a bit.

I first talked with junior Boy Daniel Chen, who had been doing well at the Aurora Fall Open in the initial rounds. He is in my U 1800 Section.

Next I talked briefly with Evgeny Kalmanson, who I had played in Rd. 2, about my blogging; he also is in my section. I then chatted with Dave Southam, who is playing in the Crown section, about the Aurora Fall Open. Bharath Ramesh, of my section, then joined us.

Round 5

After some announcements about the club moving in a month (Close by on Bloor St.), the pairings were posted.

After my game, I watched a few of the games still in progress (Mine had been one of the last in the hall), helped pack up at the end, and then headed home.

The Late Evening

I got home about midnight, and was pretty exhausted (Having been up at 4:30 AM). So, I was too tired to do this Blog # 4. I completed and posted it the next day

U 1800 Section Chess Report on Rd. 5 on Monday, Oct. 22, 2018.

My Section – U 1800 Section

I am rated 1519. I am ranked # 11 out of 24 players (In the middle third).

Rating Spread

1600’s – 7
1500’s – 6 (my rating is here)
1400’s – 7
1300’s - 3 (Playing up)
1200’s – 1 (Special Playing up - for even number of players in Rd. 1)

Total - 24

U 1800 Standings After Rd. 5 (Final)

There were 9 boards in the section (The actual number of boards may have playing fewer than the total no. of players, due to byes, withdrawals, suspensions, etc.).

Here are the Winners:

1st - 4/6 pts. - Dragan Jevtic (1630).

2nd/4th - 2.5/4 pts. - Robert Bentley (1607); Ayo Ogunlana (1586); Junior Girl Lucy Gao (1479).

My Round 5 Game

Here is my game, with a few light annotations, to show some of what I was thinking as I played:

[Event "Annex CC Changing Leaves (U 1800)"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2018.10.22"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Armstrong, Robert J."]
[Black "Ogunlana, Ayo"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E14"]
[WhiteElo "1519"]
[BlackElo "1586"]
[Annotator "Armstrong, Robert J."]
[PlyCount "92"]
[EventDate "2018.10.22"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "5"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 {I have never studied much chess. I believe this is the Queen's Indian Defence. Comment with a correction if I've got the wrong name.} 4. e3 Bb7 5. Bd3 Nc6 6. a3 d6 7. O-O a5 8. b3 e5 9. Qc2 Be7 10. Bb2 e4 {Ayo caught me by surprise with this move; I thought I had prevented it - but there is a nice tactic here which I found as I studied it deeper.} 11. Bxe4 {I go up a P} Nxd4 12. Nxd4 Bxe4 {Material is equal again} 13. Qe2 O-O 14. f3 Bb7 15. e4 Nd7 16. Nc3 Bf6 17. Nd5 Bxd5 18. cxd5 Nc5 19. Qc2 Bxd4+ 20. Bxd4 a4 21. Bxc5 bxc5 22. b4 {I had thought I'd be able to win Ayo's isolated, passed aP. In fact, I didn't and it became Ayo's winning edge.} cxb4 23. axb4 Qd7 24. Rfc1 {an inaccuracy - exchanging my bP for Ayo's cP likely loses to Ayo pushing his passed aP.} Rfb8 25. Rcb1 h6 {to avoid any back rank mate} 26. Qc4 Rb5 27. Ra3 Rb6 28. Rba1 Kh7 29. Qc2 {a beginner's blunder - moving the piece defending the bP and leaving it just hanging (Was I tired by then?)} Rxb4 {Ayo is now up a passed aP; now I am fighting for a draw.} 30. e5+ Kg8 31. exd6 Qxd6 32. Rc3 Qb6+ 33. Kh1 {now I have to watch out for a back rank mate} Rb2 34. Qe4 Rb4 ({I thought I might have a chance to get back in the game if Ayo tried 34....Qf2, since I can defend against the threatened mate on g2. Ayo seemed to think the same, since he did not play it.} 34... Qf2) 35. Rc4 Rxc4 36. Qxc4 a3 {this is now a BIG problem} 37. Qc3 a2 38. Qc2 Qd4 {I cannot win the aP; Ayo mates with .....Qd1 mate. I cannot win the cP, because I'll get mated with .....Qxa1.} 39. Qc1 Ra7 40. h3 {I'd better guard against possible sacs with a back rank mate.} Qxd5 {Ayo is up 2 P's (both passed)} 41. Qe1 c5 42. Qe8+ Kh7 43. Qe2 c4 {this now becomes the main problem} 44. Rxa2 {Ayo is up a P again (Passed)} Rxa2 45. Qxa2 Qd3 46. Kg1 c3 0-1

My Score

2.5/5 pts. (50%): Win: 1 (Rd. 2); Draws: 2 (Rds. 1 & 4); Loss: 1 (Rd. 5) Bye: 1 (Rd. 3).

My Opponents' & My Scores

3.5/5 pts. - Robert Bentley (1609). I drew in Rd. 4. He tied 2nd/4th.
- Ayo Ogunlana (1586). I lost in Rd. 5. He tied 2nd/4th.

3/5 pts. – Danilo Baguinat (1657). I drew in Rd. 1.

2.5/5 pts. - Me (1519).

1.5/4 pts. - Evgeny Kalmanson (1395). I won in Rd. 2.

Full Results

See ChessResults website (Canada): http://chess-results.com/fed.aspx?lan=1&fed=CAN

Invitation

I am most happy to interact with readers re anything about which I have posted.....so react, comment, reply, post, etc. - both favourable comments and constructive criticism....I will do my best to respond to everyone.

So jump in with both feet, and we'll all enjoy the blogging adventure!

Bob A