Scarborough Chess Club Winter Swiss – Blog

**Bob Armstrong** · Tuesday, 12th March, 2019, 09:39 AM

Scarborough Chess Club Winter Swiss – Blog

Rd. 3 - 19/3/7 (Thursday)

Bob's Chess Blog # 1 [Part II of 3 parts; see Part I above]

The Afternoon

I put out the waste (Pick-up is Friday AM). Then I went in to have lunch.

Next I went on an errand to the drugstore to get a medication......the druggist needed a bit of time, so I went for a coffee at my favourite local Coffee Time.

When I got back, I rested a bit, and then headed out to my neighbours for our fairly regular Neighbourhood Coffee Club meeting @ 2:30 PM. I was exhausted from my mania, and had to beg off to go home and sleep about 3:30 PM. Usually we would go 'til about 4:30 PM.

Siesta

I have found, now that I am in my 70's, 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 today I crashed from 3:30 – 4:30 PM.

At 4:30 PM, I had a little something to eat.

Heading Out for Rd. 3

I then prepared my stuff to go to SCC for Rd. 3. I prepared my materials for the SCC Display Table (I do this as a member volunteer job). I printed out the Rd. 2 standings for 3 of the 4 sections, so I could put them out on the table. The Crown section had not been posted because there had been a “sealed adjournment”, and they were finishing the game @ 7:00 at the club, before the start of Rd. 3.

At 5:30 PM I headed out by car for SCC (Takes from 35-55 min., depending on traffic, and how late I leave).

My routine is that I go right to my favourite Tim's where I relax before the round, and update my "Reminder Lists" (Medically bad memory, on top of old age). I generally have a light meal, so I don't totally fall asleep at the board as all the blood rushes to my stomach at the start of the round! I then get the needed caffeine to go into battle.

But tonight I just had a doughnut, and I used the time tonight to catch up my Blog # 1 rough notes.

Boyuan (Bo) Kong (Our Officer-at-Large) was sitting near me using his computer, and so I gave him a ride back to the club about 7:00 PM (About 5 min. away).

Pre-Round 3

I got in and set up the display table and put out the cross-tables I had and all the flyers.

I then brought to our club arbiter's attention (Junior Sean Lei), a club error in Rd. 2 – I had given notice of a bye, but somehow it did not get into the pairings pool (I found out the problem had arisen because the computer broke down last week when doing the pairings). I had been paired, and of course, forfeited – so I got “0” and my junior opponent got “1” plus got some of my rating points. My position was that I wanted an exception to the normal rule: that the Rd. 2 results be left as is, since I thought just getting stronger opponents for the rest of the game was insufficient compensation to my young opponent for not having a real game in Rd. 2. Even though the error was the club's, I was waiving any complaint.

Sean talked to my opponent.

Then he decided that the normal rule should apply: club error; opponent keeps the game score 1 point, but now as a director's bye. I get a 1/2 pt. bye as I requested and don't lose rating points. He said my opponent made the decision easy, because he refused to win rating points by a forfeit that should not have occurred. So the arbiter's decision made everyone happy, including me who's position had been rejected. And the club changed the request for bye protocol, to cut down on these types of pairings errors.

Round 3

There were some short announcements and then the round started almost on time.

I played a player who also had 1 point (As I now did). I have turned our Game into a “Chess Game Quiz” (See below).
After the game, which took a long time (One of the last games to finish), I got the top results for our section, for this blog. I do it before I leave (in case the Results Sheet Photos don't get posted to the club Fb page in a timely manner). Then I can do my blog, independent of what the club might be doing.

I then headed for home.

The Later Evening

I got home about 10:45 PM. I took my sleeping pill (Which I only take when I am manic, because sleep deficit is very enforcing of mania).

Then I checked my e-mails and entered my Rd. 3 game in my ChessBase 11 database.

But then I was tired. I left writing this Blog # 1, and posting it, to later Friday.

My U 1800 Section Report - Rd. 3 - Thursday, Mar. 7/19.

I am rated 1xxx (Part of the contest below). I am in the 2nd of the 4 sections. My section rating spread is effectively, from 1702 to 874. I am in the middle third of the section.

Note: Any adults below 1400 must play in this 2nd section.
Post-Rd. 3 - U 1800 - Leaders

There are 47 players; there were 20 boards (The actual number of boards may have playing fewer than the total no. of players, due to byes, suspensions, withdrawals, etc.).

The leaders are:

1st – 3/3 pts. (Won all games) – Junior Boy Michael Grant Wang (1552).

2nd/6th – 2.5/3 pts. (Undefeated) – Junior Boy Richard Huang (1665); Junior Boy Wing Li (1628); Junior Boy David Liu (1527); Junior Boy Benjamin Wu (1516); Junior Boy Boyuan Kong (1483).

My Round 3 Game: The Chess Game Quiz

I have provided some of my own light annotations (No engine analysis yet) to explain a bit of what I was thinking as the game went on. Now your part; you must answer 4 questions after playing over the game:

1. What is Player W's rating? 6
2. What is Player Bl's rating?
3. Which player am I?
4. Who might be the other SCC member I played?

Player W - Player Bl [E11]

Scarborough Winter Swiss (U 1800) (3), 07.03.2019
[Armstrong, Robert J.]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Bb4+ Bogo-Indian Defence 4.Bd2 Bxd2+ 5.Qxd2 0–0 6.Nc3 d5 7.e3 Nbd7 8.Bd3 dxc4 9.Bxc4 b6 10.e4 Player W decides to start fighting for control of the centre early 10...Bb7 11.Bd3 In this somewhat quiet position, the d3B can become an attacker on h7 & g6. 11...Re8 12.g4 Offering a P-sac to open lines for a K-side attack. 12...Nxg4 Player Bl decides to take up the challenge! Player Bl is up a P. 13.Rg1 Player W takes control of the 1/2 opened file with an attack on g7. 13...Qf6 Offering a simple exchange of N's. 14.Ng5 Player W wants to complicate the game, get ahead in development, and half-open the h-file to again get at Player Bl's K -...so..... Player W offers to sac a 2nd P. 14...Nxh2 Player Bl is now up 2 P's; but is her/his P-grabbing going to cost her/him?? 15.0–0–0 gets K out of the Nf3+ and gets the 2nd R into the attack 15...h6 Any weakening of the Bl K-side is beneficial to Player W 16.e5 W's attack depends solely on the Bl Q not getting herself onto the h-file. 16...Nxe5 Player Bl does not like the look of a retreated Q; since s/he is ahead on material, the N-sac still leaves her/him ahead materially. 17.dxe5 Qxe5 Player Bl is up 4P's vs N. 18.Nh7 threatening Q x h6. 18...Kh8 Getting out from behind the pinned g7P 19.Ng5 Only a "temporary" sac offer; eventual W will play, if the N is captured, Rh5+ picking up the g2N. 19...Qf6 20.Nce4 Need to get rid of the b7B because it blocks W from playing the perhaps desirable at some point, Rh1. 20...Bxe4 21.Bxe4 Attacks the a8R as well as controlling the Bl K's potential escape square: h7. 21...Rad8 22.Nxf7+ Interesting tactic - Player W is going to sac her/his Q, and later Player Bl is going to have to give his Q back; so W will win an exchange. 22...Qxf7 Player Bl is temporarily up 3 P's 23.Qxd8 Player W is now up R vs 3 P's. 23...Qf4+ 24.Qd2 Qxe4 Player W is now up the exchange, but Player Bl has 3 P's compensation. But is Bl winning??? 25.Qc3 threatening g7mate 25...Re7 26.Rh1 Now that Player Bl's b7B is gone, h1 is an option sqaure for Player W. 26...Nf3 I had thought Ng4 the better move. 27.Rxh6+ Player W is up the exchange, with Player Bl having 2 p's compensation. 27...Kg8 28.Rd8+ Kf7 29.Rhh8 Taking full control of Player Bl's 8th rank. 29...Qf4+ 30.Kd1 Player Bl has no checks. And Player Bl had better watch out for Rf8+. 30...Qg4 31.Rdf8+ Kg6 32.Qd3+ Kg5 33.Qe3+ Kg6 34.Rxf3 Just playing simple now.........win material. Player W is up R vs 2P's. The rest, as they say, will simply be "technique"......... 34...Rd7+ 35.Ke2 e5 Player Bl is hoping for a chance for e4 to get back in the game; the f3R is pinned. 36.Rhh3 stopping e4 by threatening to pin Player Bl's Q against her/his K. 36...Qc4+ 37.Ke1 Qb4+ 38.Kf1 Rd1+ 39.Kg2 Very safe now. 39...Qe1 Player Bl threatens mate if Player W doesn't come up with something good. 40.Qxe1 Pragmatic......is there a mate.......Player W didn't care.....just wanted to finish the game.......needn't be spectacular after a long somewhat gruelling game........Player W had 12 min. left; Player Bl had 5 seconds. 40...Rxe1 41.Rhg3+ drive the K to the side of the board, and then play in the centre. 41...Kh7 42.Re3 Rb1 43.Re2 Just defend everything first. Now just running out the clock until Bl concedes s/he has no more counter-play of any kind, if s/he doesn't flag first. 43...c5 44.Rge3 Ra1 45.a3 Rd1 46.Rxe5 Player W is up R vs P 46...Rd4 47.R5e4 When ahead in material, the general rule is to trade, trade, trade...... 47...Rd7 48.Re7 Now Player W is threatening to win Player Bl's a7P. With 57 seconds left (Player W had 10 min.), Player Bl graciously resigned. Both players felt the game was fun, and of substantially good quality........fun to play whether W or Bl. and educational. 1–0
Answers:

1. 1485
2. 1090
3. Player W
4. Player Bl: Alexander Mates

[See Part III below]

Bob A

**Bob Armstrong** · Tuesday, 12th March, 2019, 09:40 AM

Scarborough Chess Club Winter Swiss – Blog

Rd. 3 - 19/3/7 (Thursday)

Bob's Chess Blog # 1 [Part III of 3 parts; see Parts I & II above]

My Score

2/3 pts. - Win: 1 (Rd. 3); Byes (1/2 pt.): 2 (Rds. 1 & 2)

My Opponents' & My Scores

2/3 pts. - Me (1485)
1/3 pts. - Alexander Mates (1090)

Scarborough CC Games - Top Section

The games of the top section can be played over by going to the SCC Website (URL above), and the tab for "Results". Then after the link to the 1800+ section standings, is "Round x Games". Click on that and you get a game board/score, and you can play over the game right there and then!

How My Blog Works (Some history and details) + an SCC Tournament History.

These sections are another template. I repeat them in each Blog.... 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 this second template part down to where you find “Template Ends” (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 (in English): https://www.facebook.com/bob.armstrong.9235;
ii) sometimes on the national Canadian English chess discussion board, Chess Talk [CT] (https://forum.chesstalk.com/…/chesstalk-canada-s-chess-disc…);
iii) occasionally on other chess websites, such as that of FQE (Province of Quebec's Chess Association). That time the blog was posted in both French and English.

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

i) on my Fb chess discussion group, Chess Chat - A Project of a Chess Companion 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 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 - from time to time, though, my life schedule may change so that I fit in a tournament not on my schedule):

1. The 2018 Hart House Holidays Open (Prior to Christmas/18 - Dec. 14-16/18) – blogged.
2. The 2019 Hart House Reading Week Open (February 16-18 – I played, but a manic phase interferred with my being able to blog the tournament).
3. The 2019 Quebec Open (July 10-19).
4. The 2019 Toronto Open (Aug. 31- Sept. 2).

The National Canadian French Chess Discussion Board

Henri Hughes, a member of both Canadian national chess discussion boards owned by Henry Lam (English: Chess Talk; French: Parlons Echecs), volunteers, subject to demands of his school studies, to translate my blogs into French, and post them to Parlons Echecs. Thanks from all to Henri for his volunteer effort.

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 9 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 on the day of club tournaments, and before, after 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.

SCC

Joining

Lots of room and so SCC WELCOMES all new members. You can inquire about joining at the general SCC e-mail address: info@ScarboroughChessClub.ca. You can join a tournament in progress; you will get ½ pt. byes for all the missed rounds.

SCC Tournament Registration History

2013-4 Season
Jack Frost Swiss (3rd tournament) - 131 - peak registration for the season.

2014-5 Season
Club Championship Swiss (5th tournament of the season) - 126 - peak registration for the season
Season average registration (for the 6 tournaments) - 117

2015-6 Season
Club Championship (5th tournament of the season) - 141! (1800+: 35; U 1800 - 106) - Peak for the season & the current RECORD for recent times!
Season average registration (for the 6 tournaments) - 131

2016-7 Season
Jack Frost Swiss (3rd Tournament of the season) - 139 - 1800+: 32; U 1800: 35; U 1400: 72. - Peak Registration for the season
Season Average Registration (for 6 tournaments): 133! (Highest Seasonal Average since keeping records here).

2017-8 Season
Howard Ridout Memorial Swiss (1st tournament of the season) - 130 (1800+: 27; U 1800: 46; U 1400: 57) - Peak Registration for the season.
Season Average Registration (for 6 tournaments): 122. Below the 2016-7 Season Average of 133. 10

2018-9 Season (Current)
# 1 - Howard Ridout Memorial Swiss (1st tournament of the season) - 123 (1800+ - 20; U 1800 - 57; U 1400 Jrs. Only - 19; U 1000 Jrs. Only - 27).
# 2 - Falling Leaves Swiss (2nd tournament of the season) - 112 (1800+ - 17; U 1800 - 51; U 1400 Jrs. - 20; U 1000 Jrs. - 24)
# 3 – Jack Frost Swiss (3rd tournament of the season) - 122 ( 1800+ 20; U 1800 - 52; U 1400 Jrs. - 24; U 1000 Jrs. - 26)
Season Average Registration (So far): 119 (Slightly below the 2017-8 Season Average of 121).

End of Template

Invitation

I am most happy to interact with readers re anything about what I have posted.....so react, comment, reply, post, etc. - both favourable comments and constructive criticism....I will do my best to respond to everyone (When I am not residing in my computer/internet - free hobby farm north of Toronto).

Also, if any SCC member, or other reader, wishes to add in a supplementary post on their own game, or as a comment, please feel free to supplement my blog.

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

Bob A

**Bob Armstrong** · Tuesday, 12th March, 2019, 09:49 AM

The "Scarborough Chess Club Winter Swiss -– Blog " title has timed out on me for some reason, and I cannot amend Part I of the Blog # 1 to space it properly..... sorry.......not so techie..........you'll survive though.

Bob A

**Bob Armstrong** · Friday, 15th March, 2019, 02:29 PM

Scarborough Chess Club Winter Swiss – Blog

Rd. 4 - 19/3/14 (Thursday)

Bob's Chess Blog # 2 [Part 1 of 3 parts]

(See Knight Logo below)

Club

Scarborough Chess Club, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
See logo below

SCC Website: http://www.scarboroughchessclub.ca/

SCC Fb Page: https://www.facebook.com/ScarboroughChessClub/

Tournament

Name: Winter Swiss (# 4 of the 2018-9 Season, which runs from Sept. to June – Closed July-August)

When: runs from Feb. 21 – March 28 (Club Championship is on deck next!).

Format: 6-round swiss

Sections: 4: 1800+; U 1800; U 1400 - Jrs. Only; U 1000 - Jrs. Only.

Notes re sections:

1. The Club Championship has only two sections: Championship (1800+); Reserves (U 1800)

2. The regular SCC Swisses, in the past, used to have three sections 1800+; U 1800; U 1400, with playing up within 100 pts. allowed (No fee); no “Juniors Only” sections.

Rating: a. All sections are CFC-rated.

b. The top section is also FIDE rated.

Time Control: G/70 + 15 sec. (From move 1).

Playing Up: Players within 100 pts. of the floor of the section above have the option to play up, on paying a "playing up fee ($ 30)", and some do.

Registration: 115 (So far) ( 1800+ - 19; U 1800 - 49; U 1400 Jrs. - 21; U 1000 Jrs. - 26) Slightly below this season's average per tournament so far: 118.

Joining: Lots of room and so SCC WELCOMES all new members. You can inquire about joining at the general SCC e-mail address: info@ScarboroughChessClub.ca. You can join a tournament in progress; you will get ½ pt. byes for all the missed rounds.

Blog Note:

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

The Day of Rd. 4 - Early Thursday Morning

I woke up at 3:00 AM. Then I just lay there and rested and “contemplated” 'til 5:30 AM (Went to bed Wed. night @ 11:00 PM). Quietly resting for me is very helpful, despite it not being sleeping. So I got my normal approx. 6 hrs. sleep/rest (during weekend tournaments, I usually sleep much less than normal). I also usually take a 1 hr. siesta at some point during the day.

I felt quite refreshed. So.... I got up, went and got my morning coffee, and went to my home office (I am retired + unemployed – except for my slave-driver company, Canadian Life Consulting Cooperative [Quite a mouthful, but simply put: CLCC], where I must volunteer my work time for free!) and fired up my old laptop.

The Daily Routine

Sometime during this early morning process, I usually get my breakfast and eat it at the computer.

The first thing I did was to start a handwritten notes sheet for this Blog # 2 (To jot things down during the day as they happen).

As those who have read my blogs before know, I have a kind of routine I usually follow, whether I am playing chess tournaments or not (The next part below is a normal template reproduction from blog to blog, and regular readers have read it before, and can skip down to the "End of Template" heading):

START OF TEMPLATE

1. Check for my e-mails and Fb messages;

2. Check new posts/comments on ChessTalk (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, Toronto Star, National Post, NBC, The New York Times, The Washington Post, France 24, China Daily, Al Jezeera (English), Japan Times, Sputnik News, The Guardian, etc.). I post the most relevant...see below.

4. My little company (Not legally registered yet) is called, as said above, Canadian Life Consulting Cooperative (CLCC). So I update my company's Fb page, Canadian Life Consulting (CLC) - https://www.facebook.com/Canadian-Li...ing-16406543…/. I do this by checking my newsfeed and some of my Fb friends timelines for posts to "share" and my Twitter inbox for articles to re-post onto CLC.

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

6. Update this Fb world events/politics discussion group that I have created here on my own personal Fb account, called PEERS (A Discussion Club of Equals) – https://www.facebook.com/bob.armstrong.9235. 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 have another retiree project besides my own Facebook Project “Job # 1” + my company Fb Project “Job # 2”.

Chess is a passionate hobby of mine, as you know. But I have never really studied seriously.

But what I do do, is I enter all my games, and annotate them, to try to learn something - GrandMasters do recommend this often. In addition, I integrate the opening (the first 10 moves) into an opening/defence tree I have for the opening/defence played. The value of this is pretty uncertain, given my inability to remember lines - but I do develop general impressions of how the opening can go.

8. I share at least one chess post per day to my Fb chess discussion club, Chess Chat, formed under my personal Fb account - https://www.facebook.com/groups/340524269771672/.

9. When I find them, I share discussable religious posts to my World Religions discussion club Fb Group, Theist Community - https://www.facebook.com/groups/1052227598173591/.

Sometimes these also appear in PEERS.

So on my own time, I go back and forth between my Facebook projects and my chess hobby project.

My 35/25 System

As well, I go back and forth between my routine items above and my own personal life tasks to be done that day. But I have a somewhat unique system for doing this.

Recently I found that I was spending a lot more time on my three 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 the "Fb/chess" projects. So I did have to deal with this issue.

So I came up with the "35/25 System". What this is: When I am at home, I bite the bullet and I spend 35 min. on my life tasks, which I think of as “working for myself”; I even set the alarm!

Then I reward myself with 25 min. on my 3 retiree projects (Facebook [2] & Chess). 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

END OF TEMPLATE

Charging into Thursday

So this morning I comfortably settled into my daily routine, subject to the fact that I have been in a hypo-manic/psychotic-manic phase for about 3 weeks now – as my chess friends all know, I have severe Bi-Polar Disorder. So I have had to withdraw to reduce stimulation – I run on mega-doses of Adrenalin, and have to dampen down input that excites me even more! So I have been off Fb for a while now as one of my mania management techniques.

But I am checking e-mails, not to answer all, but just those that are time-sensitive, or are simple and I can just knock then off with a quick reply, and without concern of bad judgment.

I can generally also check ChessTalk, and respond, unless it is re something controversial......my mania judgment is not so reliable; so it is best I not get into taking strong, emotionally charged positions. I can not only be wrong, but may say the truth in such a way as to devastate the hearer, never a great outcome of communication.

Another mania-management technique, is to bore myself to death....scrub floors; polish the piano; dry and put away dishes in the kitchen....you get the idea......so I went to do our financial statement for the month ended Feb. 28/19 – bookkeeping really plops down on the extra energy and bores it to death! But when manic, it is really hard for me to get to it......it still sits on the dining room table only half-finished.......and now we are half way into March!

[Parts II & III below]

Bob A

**Bob Armstrong** · Friday, 15th March, 2019, 02:33 PM

Scarborough Chess Club Winter Swiss -– Blog

Rd. 4 - 19/3/14 (Thursday)

Bob's Chess Blog # 2 [Part II of 3 parts; see Part I above]

The Morning Forays

I then dressed and went out at 7:30 AM to stop in for a while at my favourite local coffee shop, La Patisserie La Cignogne on Danforth Ave. (At Monarch Park Ave). I walked (It is close – with a brisk walk, 10 min. door to door). A bunch of us have formed the Bul**hit Coffee Club from 7:45 – 9:00 AM. There is a regular shift of customers and we all now know each other........thus the kind of informal coffee club together. There are about 8 regulars (Helen, Linda, John # 1, Darryl, Joe, Ed, John # 2 (Who only comes on the Thursday) and one who is not in good health (I don't yet have his permission to use his name – he has not attended for a while now). 6 of us were there this morning. We talked sports, including bowling (3 members go bowling together each Thursday after the club visit), good Toronto places to shop for high quality food (Though it does cost a bit more), good Toronto Fish & Chip places, and the recent USA airlines disasters. We ended our visiting at 9:00 AM.

The Later Morning

The first thing I did was to check out the policies on refunds for the upcoming Aurora Spring Open (In Newmarket). There are reasons beyond my control why I might have to bail on the Friday before the tournament starts. I found that as long as I gave my withdrawal notice before 1:00 PM on the Friday, I could get a full refund (And no admin. Penalty Fee). So I made out the cheque to mail in (Early Bird rate) and walked down to the post box and mailed it. Then I took a short walk since the weather was so nice.

My long-term partner and I live in three places, going back and forth helter-skelter. And we lead very separate lives. So from time to time we have to coordinate schedules.....it takes time and it is not pretty watching all the horse-trading!

Lunch

I made my self a delicious chicken sandwich (Cooked and carved the night before). Then I did some house-keeping tasks. I also followed up on a lunch meeting a few friends and I have arranged in Mississauga, to make sure we knew who was attending.

Siesta

I have found, now that I am in my 70's, 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 today I crashed from 2:30 PM. But, unusually, I awoke after only 1/2 hr. So I went back to my routine jobs I kind of do all day/night long.

At 4:30 PM, I had a little something to eat.

Heading Out for Rd. 4

I then prepared my stuff to go to SCC for Rd. 4. I prepared my materials for the SCC Display Table (I do this as a member volunteer job). I printed out the Rd. 3 standings for the 4 sections, so I could put them out on the table. It was then I noticed that the cross-table for me had not been corrected as per Sean's decision the week before. So I scratched in my correct score, and e-mailed the Pairings Cttee to please correct it so I would get the pairing for Rd. 4 that I should be getting.

At 4:30 PM I headed out by TTC for SCC (I am no longer driving; the new Highway Traffic Act law is now risky for Bi-Polars who have psychotic-manic episodes). It takes about 55 min. door to door. I wanted to go early so I had some pre-club time to update my Reminder Lists, which were pretty much a disaster from the hypo-mania phase.

My routine, now that I am going by TTC all the time, is that I go right from the Midland LRT Station to my favourite Starbuck's on Ellesmere (At Midland Ave.) . There I relax before the round, and update my "Reminder Lists" (Medically bad memory, on top of old age). I generally have a light snack, so I don't totally fall asleep at the board as all the blood rushes to my stomach at the start of the round! I then get the needed caffeine to go into battle.

So I then walked to the club about 6:45 PM (About 15 min. away).

Pre-Round 4

I got in and set up the display table and put out the cross-tables I had (With my cross-table showing the correction) and all the flyers. Maurice Smith, VP, now “acting” President since Omar Shah has been ill, had gotten my e-mail about the cross-table correction, and he said he was going then to give it to the member of the Pairings Cttee on that night, high school student, Bo Kong. Bo came and checked the details with me and then fixed it on the computer, so he came out with proper pairings sheets.

I then chatted briefly with my friend, Toy Kwan, with whom I'm getting a ride to Newmarket on Saturday, March 30 for the Aurora Spring Open (Being held at the beautifully renovated Newmarket Old City Hall). We agreed I'd come over to Midland LRT station and he'd pick me up there.
Pre-Round 4

I got in and set up the display table and put out the cross-tables I had (With my cross-table showing the correction) and all the flyers. Maurice Smith, VP, now “acting” President since Omar Shah has been ill, had gotten my e-mail about the cross-table correction, and he said he was going then to give it to the member of the Pairings Cttee on that night, high school student, Bo Kong. Bo came and checked the details with me and then fixed it on the computer, so he came out with proper pairings sheets.

I then chatted briefly with my friend, Toy Kwan, with whom I'm getting a ride to Newmarket on Saturday, March 30 for the Aurora Spring Open (Being held at the beautifully renovated Newmarket Old City Hall). We agreed I'd come over to Midland LRT station and he'd pick me up there.

Round 4

There were some short announcements about the 2 recent vandalism acts at the club (Putting the club in real jeopardy of losing the site), and then the round started almost on time.

I played a player who also had 2 points (As I now did). I have turned our Game into a “Chess Game Quiz” (See below).

After the game, which took a while, I watched the top finishing games in all sections, and got the top results for our section, for this blog. I do it before I leave (in case the Results Sheet Photos don't get posted to the club Fb page in a timely manner). Then I can do my blog, independent of what the club might be doing.

Just before I left, member Sudhir Pokhrel, brought to me an error in the Cross-table re his own entry that had not gotten fixed before the round, since he had just looked at the full sheet and realized there was an error for him as well. I took the information and said I'd pass it on to the Pairings Cttee/Club Arbiter to deal with, and I'd let him know what I arranged, and I got his e-mail. So I took it to Bo, and he started trying to piece the facts together, speaking to Lucy Gao and me about her Rd. 1 drawn game with Dinesh Dattani. Sudhir advised me later that he and Bo were now straightening the whole thing out. I advised that hopefully, before Rd. 5 next week, the club would have correct cross-tables.

I helped clean up a bit and then headed for home when all games had finished.

The Later Evening

I got home about 11:45 PM. I took my one normal mood-stabilizing pill (Has to be taken with some food) and then my sleeping pill (Which I only take when I am manic, because sleep deficit is very enforcing of mania).

Then I checked my e-mails and went to bed. I left writing this Blog # 2, and posting it, to later Friday.

My U 1800 Section Report - Rd. 4 - Thursday, Mar. 14/19.

I am rated 1xxx (Part of the contest below). I am in the 2nd of the 4 sections. My section rating spread is effectively, from 1702 to 874. I am just in the middle third of the section.

Note: Any adults below 1400 must play in this 2nd section.

Post-Rd. 4 - U 1800 - Leaders

There are 49 players; there were 17 boards (The actual number of boards may have playing fewer than the total no. of players, due to byes, suspensions, withdrawals, etc.).

The leaders are:

1st/2nd – 3.5/4 pts. (Undefeated) – Junior Boy Yiwei Dong (1526); Junior Boy Benjamin Wu (1516).

3rd/10th – 3/4 pts. – 8-way tie (Including me)

[Part III below]

Bob A

**Bob Armstrong** · Friday, 15th March, 2019, 02:41 PM

Scarborough Chess Club Winter Swiss – Blog

Rd. 4 - 19/3/14 (Thursday)

Bob's Chess Blog # 2 [Part III of 3 parts; see Parts I & II above]

My Round 4 Game: The Chess Game Quiz

I have provided some of my own light annotations (No engine analysis yet) to explain a bit of what I was thinking as the game went on. Now your part; you must answer 4 questions after playing over the game:

What is Player W's rating?
What is Player Bl's rating?
Which player am I?
Who might be the other SCC member I played?

Player W - Player Bl [B06]

Scarborough CC Winter Swiss (U 1800) (4), 14.03.2019
[Armstrong, Robert (Bob) J.]

1.Nf3 g6 2.e4 Bg7 3.d3 c5 Early Modern Defence (Before ......d6) 4.g3 Qb6 Queen move # 1 - some pressure on b2 5.Nbd2 Qa5 Queen move # 2 - temporarily pinning the d2N and locking in the c1B [5...Bxb2 not a great idea 6.Rb1] 6.Bg2 b5 Player Bl prefers W to play Nb3 rather then Nc4. 7.0–0 Bb7 8.Re1 Nc6 W wants to play in the centre; Bl on the Q-side 9.Nb3 Qb6 Queen move # 3 10.e5 to blunt the g7B 10...Nd4 I set up a complicated little apparent tactic, along with the simple move. 11.Nxc5 Blunder - Player Bl does not look far enough into the tactical combination. 11...Qxc5 Player Bl is up N vs P; Queen move # 4. 12.Be3 The "pin" that Player Bl didn't realize does not hold. 12...Nxf3+ The check protects the Q! 13.Bxf3 Qc7 Queen runs to safety; Queen move # 5 (Out of 13 moves!?? Can Player Bl get away with this??? Seems s/he did! 14.Bf4 e6 just annihilate that tactical push idea 15.c4 If Player W is to win, he must play aggressively, and likely must mate. 15...Bxf3 When up material, classical rule: exchange pieces as often as possible. 16.Qxf3 Rb8 17.Rac1 bxc4 again - when up - simplify 18.Rxc4 Qa5 Queen move # 6 19.Rec1 Ne7 no time to go P-grabbing; Player Bl is behind in development and Player W has some serious threats s/he can put in place. Being up P's, and mated, is not such a great outcome! 20.Bg5 blunder, which both players missed in the game (Came out of an engine in the post-mortem) 20...h6 [the proper line follows, winning a P: 20...Qxe5 21.Bf4 Qf5] 21.Bxe7 simplifying in favour of Player Bl [Better is 21.Bf6 ] 21...Kxe7 Bl's 2 R's are now finally joined, preventing back-rank issues. 22.Rf4 Rhf8 23.Qe3 Rbc8 they are fighting over the c5 square; also Player Bl wants to simplify and exchange. 24.Rd1 If Player W is going to mate, s/he will need the R! 24...Bxe5 Player Bl is up a B. 25.Re4 Bg7 26.d4 d5 Just shut down any W play in the centre. At this point, W has little play to pursue, despite still having lots of pieces......Player Bl is going to start picking up P's with his ubiquitous Q, while his K is perfectly safe. Player W graciously conceded. 0–1
Answers:

1350
1485
Player Bl
Player W: Ryan Turchow

My Score

3/4 pts. - Wins: 2 (Rds. 3 & 4); Byes (1/2 pt.): 2 (Rds. 1 & 2) – in an 8-way tie for 3rd!

My Opponents' & My Scores

3/4 pts. - Me (1485)
2/4 pts. - Ryan Turchow (1350) – I won in Rd. 4.
2?/4 pts. - Alexander Mates (1090) – I won in Rd. 3 (Not sure of him winning in Rd. 4)

Scarborough CC Games - Top Section

The games of the top section can be played over by going to the SCC Website (URL above), and the tab for "Results". Then after the link to the 1800+ section standings, is "Round x Games". Click on that and you get a game board/score, and you can play over the game right there and then!

How My Blog Works (Some history and details) + an SCC Tournament History.

These sections are another template. I repeat them in each Blog.... 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 this second template part down to where you find “Template Ends” (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 (in English): https://www.facebook.com/bob.armstrong.9235;
ii) sometimes on the national Canadian English 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 Association). That time the blog was posted in both French and English.

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

i) on my Fb chess discussion group, Chess Chat - A Project of a Chess Companion 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 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 - from time to time, though, my life schedule may change so that I fit in a tournament not on my schedule):

1. The 2018 Hart House Holidays Open (Prior to Christmas/18 - Dec. 14-16/18) – blogged.
2. The 2019 Hart House Reading Week Open (February 16-18 – I played, but a manic phase interfered with my being able to blog the tournament).
3. The 2019 Quebec Open (July 10-19).
4. The 2019 Toronto Open (Aug. 31- Sept. 2).

The National Canadian French Chess Discussion Board

Henri Hughes, a member of both Canadian national chess discussion boards owned by Henry Lam (English: Chess Talk; French: Parlons Echecs), volunteers, subject to demands of his school studies, to translate my blogs into French, and post them to Parlons Echecs. Thanks from all to Henri for his volunteer effort.

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 on the day of club tournaments, and before, after 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.

SCC Tournament Registration History

2013-4 Season
Jack Frost Swiss (3rd tournament) - 131 - peak registration for the season.

2014-5 Season
Club Championship Swiss (5th tournament of the season) - 126 - peak registration for the season
Season average registration (for the 6 tournaments) - 117

2015-6 Season
Club Championship (5th tournament of the season) - 141! (1800+: 35; U 1800 - 106) - Peak for the season & the current RECORD for recent times!
Season average registration (for the 6 tournaments) - 131

2016-7 Season
Jack Frost Swiss (3rd Tournament of the season) - 139 - 1800+: 32; U 1800: 35; U 1400: 72. - Peak Registration for the season
Season Average Registration (for 6 tournaments): 133! (Highest Seasonal Average since keeping records here).

2017-8 Season
Howard Ridout Memorial Swiss (1st tournament of the season) - 130 (1800+: 27; U 1800: 46; U 1400: 57) - Peak Registration for the season.
Season Average Registration (for 6 tournaments): 122. Below the 2016-7 Season Average of 133. 9

2018-9 Season (Current)
# 1 - Howard Ridout Memorial Swiss (1st tournament of the season) - 123 (1800+ - 20; U 1800 - 57; U 1400 Jrs. Only - 19; U 1000 Jrs. Only - 27).
# 2 - Falling Leaves Swiss (2nd tournament of the season) - 112 (1800+ - 17; U 1800 - 51; U 1400 Jrs. - 20; U 1000 Jrs. - 24)
# 3 – Jack Frost Swiss (3rd tournament of the season) - 122 ( 1800+ 20; U 1800 - 52; U 1400 Jrs. - 24; U 1000 Jrs. - 26)
Season Average Registration (So far): 119 (Slightly below the 2017-8 Season Average of 121).

END OF TEMPLATE

Invitation

I am most happy to interact with readers re anything about what I have posted.....so react, comment, reply, post, etc. - both favourable comments and constructive criticism....I will do my best to respond to everyone (When I am not residing in my computer/internet - free hobby farm north of Toronto).

Also, if any SCC member, or other reader, wishes to add in a supplementary post on their own game, or as a comment, please feel free to supplement my blog.

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

Bob A

**Bob Armstrong** · Wednesday, 27th March, 2019, 08:57 AM

Scarborough Chess Club Winter Swiss – Blog

Rd. 5 - 19/3/21 (Thursday)

Bob's Chess Blog # 3 [Part I of 3 parts]
(See Knight Logo below)

Club

Scarborough Chess Club, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
See logo below

SCC Website: http://www.scarboroughchessclub.ca/

SCC Fb Page: https://www.facebook.com/ScarboroughChessClub/

Tournament

Name: Winter Swiss (# 4 of the 2018-9 Season, which runs from Sept. to June – Closed July-August)

When: runs from Feb. 21 – March 28 (Club Championship is on deck next!).

Format: 6-round swiss

Sections: 4: 1800+; U 1800; U 1400 - Jrs. Only; U 1000 - Jrs. Only.

Notes re sections:

1. The Club Championship has only two sections: Championship (1800+); Reserves (U 1800)

2. The regular SCC Swisses, in the past, used to have three sections 1800+; U 1800; U 1400, with playing up within 100 pts. allowed (No fee); no “Juniors Only” sections.

Rating: a. All sections are CFC-rated.

b. The top section is also FIDE rated.

Time Control: G/70 + 15 sec. (From move 1).

Playing Up: Players within 100 pts. of the floor of the section above have the option to play up, on paying a "playing up fee ($ 30)", and some do.

Registration: 116 (So far) ( 1800+ - 20; U 1800 - 49; U 1400 Jrs. - 21; U 1000 Jrs. - 26) Slightly below this season's average per tournament so far: 118.

Joining: Lots of room and so SCC WELCOMES all new members. You can inquire about joining at the general SCC e-mail address: info@ScarboroughChessClub.ca. You can join a tournament in progress; you will get ½ pt. byes for all the missed rounds.

Blog Note:

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

The Day of Rd. 5 – The Wee Hours of Thursday Morning

I woke up at 3:00 AM. Then I just lay there and rested and “contemplated” 'til 5:30 AM (Went to bed Wed. night @ 11:00 PM). Quietly resting for me is very helpful, despite it not being sleeping. So I got my normal approx. 6 hrs. sleep/rest (during weekend tournaments, I usually sleep much less than normal). I also usually take a 1 hr. siesta at some point during the day.

I felt quite refreshed. So.... I got up, went and got my morning coffee, and went to my home office (I am retired + unemployed – life is fine except for my slave-driver company, Canadian Life Consulting Cooperative [Quite a mouthful, but simply put: CLCC], where I must volunteer my work time for free!) and fired up my old laptop.

The Daily Routine

The first thing I did was to start a handwritten notes sheet for this Blog # 3 (To jot things down during the day as they happen).

As those who have read my blogs before know, I have a kind of routine I usually follow, whether I am playing chess tournaments or not (The next part below is a normal template reproduction from blog to blog, and regular readers have read it before, and can skip down to the "End of Template" heading):

START OF TEMPLATE

1. Check for my e-mails and Fb messages;

2. Check new posts/comments on ChessTalk (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, Toronto Star, National Post, NBC, The New York Times, The Washington Post, France 24, China Daily, Al Jezeera (English), Japan Times, Sputnik News, The Guardian, etc.). I post the most relevant...see below.

4. My little company (Not legally registered yet) is called, as said above, Canadian Life Consulting Cooperative (CLCC). So I update my company's Fb page, Canadian Life Consulting (CLC) - https://www.facebook.com/Canadian-Li...ing-16406543…/. I do this by checking my Twitter inbox for articles to re-post onto CLC. I then also check my Fb newsfeed and some of my Fb friends timelines for posts to "share".

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

6. Update this Fb world events/politics discussion group that I have created here on my own personal Fb account, called PEERS (A Discussion Club of Equals) – https://www.facebook.com/bob.armstrong.9235. 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 discussion club, Chess Chat, formed under my personal Fb account - https://www.facebook.com/groups/340524269771672/.

8. When I find them, I share discussable religious posts to my World Religions discussion club Fb Group, Theist Community - https://www.facebook.com/groups/1052227598173591/.

Sometimes these also appear in PEERS.

9. I have another retiree project besides my Facebook Project “Job # 1”(My company) + my Fb Project “Job # 2” (My own personal interests).

Chess is a passionate hobby of mine, as you know. But I have never really studied seriously.

But what I do do, is I enter all my games, and annotate them, to try to learn something - GrandMasters do recommend this often. In addition, I integrate the opening (the first 10 moves) into an opening/defence tree I have for the opening/defence played. The value of this is pretty uncertain, given my inability to remember lines - but I do develop general impressions of how the opening can go.

So on my own time, I go back and forth between my Facebook projects and my chess hobby project.

Sometime during this process, I usually get my breakfast and eat it at the computer.

My 35/25 System

As well, I go back and forth between my routine items above and my own personal life tasks to be done that day.

But I have a somewhat unique system for doing this.

Recently I found that I was spending a lot more time on my three 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 the "Fb/chess" projects. So I did have to deal with this issue.

So I came up with the "35/25 System". What this is: When I am at home, I bite the bullet and I spend 35 min. on my life tasks, which I think of as “working for myself”; I even set the alarm! Then I reward myself with 25 min. on my 3 retiree projects (Facebook [2] & Chess). 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

END OF TEMPLATE

Charging into Thursday

So this morning I comfortably settled into my daily routine, subject to the fact that I am still coming down from a hypo-manic/psychotic-manic phase for the last 3 weeks now, as my regular readers know.

The Bul**hit Coffee Club

I then dressed and went out at 7:25 AM to stop in for a while at my favourite local coffee shop, La Patisserie La Cignogne on Danforth Ave. (At Monarch Park Ave). I walked (It is close – with a brisk walk - 10 min. door to door). A bunch of us have formed the Bul**hit Coffee Club from 7:45 – 9:00 AM. There is a regular shift of customers and we all now know each other.....I have mentioned in prior blogs the 9 regular members –- any number may show up any particular morning. 7 of us were there this morning (Helen, Linda, John # 1, Darryl, Ed, Joe & me). We talked about:

- resignation of the Ontario Provincial Police Chief that the Premier just controversially appointed;

- sports -– hockey, including the Leafs;

- the latest controversy swirling around USA President Donald Trump;

- the City of Timmins, and their well-known home-towner, country singer Shania Twain.

We ended our visiting at 9:00 AM.

Back Home

At 9:15 AM, I worked on my latest Annex CC Blog which I had not yet gotten to. I then dealt with an earlier ACC Blog where I had undertaken to contact a current ACC member re some of his history.....since some ChessTalk'ers wondered if they had known him when a junior.

As part of my 35 min “work for myself” phase, I did the dishes, and then helped my partner with making the best muffins in the world.

I also had some errands to do: went and got two keys cut; went and got some pottery supplies.

Lunch

I made my self a delicious spinach salad. Then I did some kitchen clean-up tasks.

Siesta

I have found, now that I am in my 70's, 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 today I crashed from 1-2 PM.

The Mid-Afternoon

I then started doing some organizing for an upcoming trip. – I packed numbers of re-usable bags with stuff being brought; I packed the bags into the trunk; I started packing my own personal suitcase; I took the newly cut house keys down to the neighbours, whose teenage kids were going to care-take the house in our absence. Lastly I fed “The Crew” - this requires a bit of explanation. We have a large plastic container box 3/4 filled with clay........and red wiggler worms. We give them food scraps and they turn the clay into great compost soil.

At 5:00 PM, I had a light dinner.

[See Parts II & III below]

Bob A

**Bob Armstrong** · Wednesday, 27th March, 2019, 09:26 AM

Scarborough Chess Club Winter Swiss – Blog

Rd. 5 - 19/3/21 (Thursday)

Bob's Chess Blog # 3 [Part II of 3 parts; see Part I above]

Heading Out for Rd. 5

I then prepared my stuff to go to SCC for Rd. 5. I prepared my materials for the SCC Display Table (I do this as a member volunteer job). I printed out the Rd. 4 standings for the 4 sections, so I could put them out on the table.

At 5:40 PM I headed out by TTC for SCC (I am no longer driving). It takes about 45-50 min. to get to my favourite Starbucks at Ellesmere & Midland. There I relax before the round, and update my "Reminder Lists" (Medically bad memory, on top of old age). I usually have a pastry, and I then get the needed caffeine to go into battle.

So I then walked to the club about 15 min. away.

Pre-Round 5

I got in and set up the display table and put out the cross-tables. Omar Shah, our President, has been ill, but now has a clean bill of health from his doctors. So he said he will now be back to normal attendance at SCC.

I then chatted briefly with my friend, Toy Kwan, with whom I'm getting a ride to Newmarket on Saturday, March 30 for the Aurora Spring Open (Being held at the beautifully renovated Newmarket Old City Hall).

Round 5

The round started almost on time.

I played a player who also had 3 points (As I did). I have turned our Game into a “Chess Game Quiz” (See below).

After the game, I watched the top finishing games in all sections, and got the top results for our section, for this blog. I do it before I leave (in case the Results Sheet Photos don't get posted to the club Fb page in a timely manner). Then I can do my blog, independent of what the club might be doing.

I then headed for home by TTC when all games had finished.

The Later Evening

I got home about 11:45 PM. I took my one normal mood-stabilizing pill (Has to be taken with some food) and then my sleeping pill (Which I only take when I am manic, because sleep deficit is very enforcing of mania).

Then I checked my e-mails and went to bed. We were going out of town the next morning, early. So I left writing this Blog # 3, and posting it, to do a few days later.

My U 1800 Section Report - Rd. 5 - Thursday, Mar. 21/19.

I am rated 1xxx (Part of the contest below). I am in the 2nd of the 4 sections. My section rating spread is effectively, from 1702 to 874. I am just in the middle third of the section.

Note: Any adults below 1400 must play in this 2nd section.

Post-Rd. 5 - U 1800 - Leaders

There are 49 players; there were 17 boards (The actual number of boards may have playing fewer than the total no. of players, due to byes, suspensions, withdrawals, etc.).

The leaders are:

1st – 4.5/5 pts. (Undefeated) – Junior Boy Yiwei Dong (1526);

2nd/4th - 4/5 pts. – Junior Boy Aaron Chen (1577); Bob Armstrong (1485); Junior Boy Boyuan Kong (1483).

My Round 5 Game: The Chess Game Quiz

I have provided some of my own light annotations (No engine analysis yet) to explain a bit of what I was thinking as the game went on. Now your part; you must answer 4 questions as you go through and after playing over the game; they are set out prior to move 1:

Player W - Player Bl [A00]

Scarborough CC Winter (U 1800) (5), 21.03.2019
[Armstrong, Robert (Bob) J.]

Questions:

1. What is Player W's rating?

2. What is Player Bl's rating?

3. Which player am I?

4. Who might be the other SCC member I played?

1.g3 Benko Opening - easily transposable 1...e6 2.Bg2 d5 3.c4 c6 4.Qb3 Angry Tapir Opening 4...Nd7 5.d4 keeping the N off c5 5...Ngf6 6.Nc3 g6 7.Bg5 h6 8.Bd2 Nb6 9.cxd5 cxd5 10.Rd1 Nc4 11.Nf3 Nxd2 12.Rxd2 Nd7 13.e4 dxe4 14.Nxe4 b6 15.0–0 Bb7 16.Re1 Bg7 Just an oversight ..... not Player Bl's normal style 17.Nd6+ taking advantage to mess up Player Bl's K-side development 17...Kf8 18.Nxf7 Player W goes for the less clear option (And it is likely worse than the simple Nxb7). S/he goes up a P. [18.Nxb7 Qb8 19.Ne5 Nxe5 20.dxe5 Qc7] 18...Bd5 the position is full of surprises [18...Kxf7 19.Qxe6+ Kf8] 19.Nxd8 [19.Qxd5 exd5 20.Nxd8 Rxd8] 19...Bxb3 20.Nxe6+ Player W goes up 2 P's. 20...Bxe6 21.Rxe6 Kf7 Player Bl still has a number of major pieces; s/he can hope to maybe win back one of the P's, and then be back in the game, even if maybe only for a draw. 22.Rde2 Bf6 23.d5 Rac8 24.Rc6 Nb8 25.Rxc8 when up material, the general rule is exchange down into an ending. 25...Rxc8 26.Bh3 clearing g2 for the K 26...Rc1+ 27.Kg2 Ra1 28.b3 Put your P's on the opposite-coloured square to the opponent's B 28...Na6 29.d6 the general rule with a passed P: push, push, push! 29...Nb4 30.Bd7 Rxa2 Bl has accomplished purpose # 1; s/he is now down only 1 P; now to draw (Or even win?). 31.Be8+ Kg7 32.Rxa2 Nxa2 33.d7 Nb4 Bl now becomes amazingly resourceful in blocking the promotion of W's passed dP. 34.Ne5 Uncapturable - B moves, then P queens 34...g5 35.Kf3 Nd5 36.Nc6 Nc7 can't promote 37.Nxa7 There seems to be no rush, so winning the P just takes away Bl's possible 2 P's vs 1 P rush in an ending. W is up 2 P's. 37...Kf8 38.Bh5 Ke7 39.Bg4 desperately holding onto the passed P, despite it being almost impossible to Q because of Bl's control of the dark squares, especially the d8queening square. 39...Ne6 double protecting the queening square 40.Nc8+ W sees a way of winning the ending, but he has go give up the frozen d7P. 40...Kxd7 41.Nxb6+ W is still up 2 P's 41...Kd6 42.Bxe6 Kxe6 43.Ke4 Kd6 Bl's ending conundrum - s/he must try to win the passed Q-side P, and then get back in time to defend against W decimated his K-side P's 44.Nd5 Bg7 45.Ne3 45...Kc5 46.Nc2 The Bl K cannot get at the dangerous bP, but also cannot leave to go protect his/her q-side, because as soon as the Q does, the bP will start advancing. Bl saw that now W will win on the K-side, and resigned.

Questions:

1. What is Player W's rating?

2. What is Player Bl's rating?

3. Which player am I?

4. Who might be the other SCC member I played?

Answers:

W - Armstrong, Robert (Bob) J. (1485)

Bl - Wang, Michael Grant (Junior - 1552)

1– - 0

My Score

4/5 pts. - Wins: 2 (Rds. 3, 4 & 5); Byes (1/2 pt.): 2 (Rds. 1 & 2) – in an 3-way tie for 2nd !

My Opponents' & My Scores

4/5 pts. - Me (1485)

3?/5 pts. - Alexander Mates (1090) – I won in Rd. 3 (Not sure of him winning in Rd. 5)

2.5/5 pts. - Ryan Turchow (1350) – I won in Rd. 4.

[See Part III below]

Bob A

**Bob Armstrong** · Wednesday, 27th March, 2019, 09:28 AM

Scarborough Chess Club Winter Swiss – Blog

Rd. 5 - 19/3/21 (Thursday)

Bob's Chess Blog # 3 [Part III of 3 parts; see Parts I & II above]

Scarborough CC Games - Top Section

The games of the top section can be played over by going to the SCC Website (URL above), and the tab for "Results". Then after the link to the 1800+ section standings, is "Round x Games". Click on that and you get a game board/score, and you can play over the game right there and then!

How My Blog Works (Some history and details) + an SCC Tournament History.

These next 2 sections are more templates. I repeat them in each Blog.... 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 this second and third template part down to where you find for each “Template Ends” (I will alert you if there are any revisions of the template).

TOURNAMENT TEMPLATE BEGINS

SCC Tournament Registration History

2013-4 Season
Jack Frost Swiss (3rd tournament) - 131 - peak registration for the season.

2014-5 Season
Club Championship Swiss (5th tournament of the season) - 126 - peak registration for the season
Season average registration (for the 6 tournaments) - 117

2015-6 Season
Club Championship (5th tournament of the season) - 141! (1800+: 35; U 1800 - 106) - Peak for the season & the current RECORD for recent times!
Season average registration (for the 6 tournaments) - 131

2016-7 Season
Jack Frost Swiss (3rd Tournament of the season) - 139 - 1800+: 32; U 1800: 35; U 1400: 72. - Peak Registration for the season
Season Average Registration (for 6 tournaments): 133! (Highest Seasonal Average since keeping records here).

2017-8 Season
Howard Ridout Memorial Swiss (1st tournament of the season) - 130 (1800+: 27; U 1800: 46; U 1400: 57) - Peak Registration for the season.
Season Average Registration (for 6 tournaments): 122. Below the 2016-7 Season Average of 133. 7

2018-9 Season (Current)

# 1 - Howard Ridout Memorial Swiss (1st tournament of the season) - 123 (1800+ - 20; U 1800 - 57; U 1400 Jrs. Only - 19; U 1000 Jrs. Only - 27).

# 2 - Falling Leaves Swiss (2nd tournament of the season) - 112 (1800+ - 17; U 1800 - 51; U 1400 Jrs. - 20; U 1000 Jrs. - 24)

# 3 – Jack Frost Swiss (3rd tournament of the season) - 122 ( 1800+ 20; U 1800 - 52; U 1400 Jrs. - 24; U 1000 Jrs. - 26)

Season Average Registration (So far): 119 (Slightly below the 2017-8 Season Average of 121).

END OF TEMPLATE

BLOG 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 (in English): https://www.facebook.com/bob.armstrong.9235;

ii) sometimes on the national Canadian English 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 Association). That time the blog was posted in both French and English.

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

i) on my Fb chess discussion group, Chess Chat - A Project of a Chess Companion 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 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 - from time to time, though, my life schedule may change so that I fit in a tournament not on my schedule):

1. The 2018 Hart House Holidays Open (Prior to Christmas/18 - Dec. 14-16/18) – blogged.
2. The 2019 Hart House Reading Week Open (February 16-18 – I played, but a manic phase interferred with my being able to blog the tournament).
3. The 2019 Quebec Open (July 10-19).
4. The 2019 Toronto Open (Aug. 31- Sept. 2).

The National Canadian French Chess Discussion Board

Henri Hughes, a member of both Canadian national chess discussion boards owned by Henry Lam (English: Chess Talk; French: Parlons Echecs), volunteers, subject to demands of his school studies, to translate my blogs into French, and post them to Parlons Echecs. Thanks from all to Henri for his volunteer effort.

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 8 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 on the day of club tournaments, and before, after 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.

TEMPLATE ENDS

Invitation

I am most happy to interact with readers re anything about what I have posted.....so react, comment, reply, post, etc. - both favourable comments and constructive criticism....I will do my best to respond to everyone (When I am not residing in my computer/internet - free hobby farm north of Toronto).

Also, if any SCC member, or other reader, wishes to add in a supplementary post on their own game, or as a comment, please feel free to supplement my blog.

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

Bob A

Scarborough Chess Club Winter Swiss – Blog

Scarborough Chess Club Winter Swiss – Blog

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