Scarborough Chess Club Championship Swiss (Apr. 4 - May 23) - Blog

**Bob Armstrong** · Friday, 5th April, 2019, 04:07 PM

Scarborough Chess Club Championship Swiss – Blog

Rd. 1 - 19/4/4 (Thursday)

Bob's Chess Blog # 1 [ Part II of 4 parts; see Part I above]

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 4 weeks now, as my regular readers know. Two additional things I did were: start a hand-written rough 1st draft of this Blog # 1; start a computer draft of this blog (I can do a lot of the standard parts in advance). As part of the “work for myself” phase, I emptied the kitchen dish drainer and straightened the kitchen from the night before.

The Bul**hit Coffee Club

At 7:30 AM, I usually head out, when I am available, to my coffee club I belong to: The Bul**hit Coffee Club (BCC). We hold it in one of my favourite local coffee shops, La Patisserie de Cigogne [Stork] (Danforth Ave. & Monarch Park). I stop in for a little over an hour. If I walk very briskly, I can make it door to door in 10 min.! And I recently saw an exercise article that said a number of short bursts of exercise are more beneficial, and less hard on you, than a longer grueling session. So the club has become my very, very modest morning exercise program.

There are a group of regulars on the 7:30 – 9:00 AM shift (The coffee shop opens at 7:30 AM). It is an informal coffee club (going for a few years now; we actually formed up in another coffee shop nearby that closed; so we just moved en mass).

Helen is usually the first member to arrive as soon as they open. I like to get there about 7:40 AM to give the staff a few more minutes to get open and set up. Then I like to work updating my reminder notes (I have a medically defective memory, on top of old age!; no notes.....it falls below the radar!), if Helen didn't make it that day. Most others arrive closer to 8:00 AM.

We are at the moment 8 regulars: Helen, Linda, John # 1, Joe, Darryl, Ed, John # 2, and me. We are open to having new members join. I try to be very careful about privacy of other people in my Blog (Not so concerned about my own, to the extent that I let it hang out somewhat in my blogs). I have canvassed the members about use of first names and all were fine to become infamous!! They felt it could only help the BCC to grow!! And, of course, this is seen as good from our coffee shop host's point of view. Generally, I won't use people's names in my Blog unless I've gotten a “blanket permission” to use them.....easier to remember that way, who is in, and who is out. And most people think it is kind of a hoot to end up having their names broadcast to the world!

7 of us were there today: Helen, Linda, John # 1, Darryl, Joe & me; John # 2 showed just as a few of us were leaving. Some of the stuff (among others) we canvassed were:

- where the closest local beer stores are now that the one at Danforth and Greenwood is gone;
- the coming selling of beer at grocery and convenience stores
- Canadian political history – names cropping up were: Tommy Douglas, Keith Davey, Bill Vander Zalm, Pierre Elliot Trudeau, Marc Lalonde, Jean Chretien, Paul Martin, Lester Pearson, and some others.
- The provincial take-over of the Toronto Transit Commission, and whether this was punishing the City of Toronto by Premier Doug Ford, because Toronto did not vote for the Progressive Conservatives in the last provincial election

Joe and I left about 9:00 AM.

Back Home

At 9:15 AM, I started with the 35 min. “work for myself” phase of household tasks: gathered up all the garbage and put out the bin for Friday pick-up, along with the compost bin.

Then at 9:30 AM our 3 y.o. granddaughter from Montreal Skyp'd with us for about 20 min..

After that I got conscripted into wrapping and packing my partner's pottery pieces into big plastic containers (On their way eventually to her May sale – she is an amateur potter). I also was sanding the bottoms (sigh). This continued into the afternoon.

Lunch

We had lunch about 1:30 – 2:00 PM. Then I did some kitchen clean-up tasks.

Neighbourhood Coffee Club

I then helped get the place ship-shape for us to host our 5-person “Neighbourhood Coffee Club” at 2:30 PM. We gabbed about old age, the lack of in-home care services, our own health issues, the wonderful Spring weather, etc. It ended at 4:30 PM and I helped clean up and straighten the place away again.

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). But this afternoon was jamb-packed, and so I missed it – we'll see how I hold up later at Scarborough CC!

Heading Out for Rd. 5

I then prepared my stuff to go to SCC for Rd. 1. I prepared my materials for the SCC Display Table (I do this as a member volunteer job). I printed out the CFC final standings cross-tables for the 4 sections, for our last Winter Swiss, so I could put them out on the table.

At 5:15 PM I headed out by TTC for SCC (I am no longer driving). It takes about an hour (Subway; LRT; Bus) to get to my favourite Timmies at Ellesmere & Brimley. There I relax before the round, and update my "Reminder Lists" (Medically bad memory, on top of old age). I had a very light dinner, and I then got the needed caffeine to go into battle. Our pairings administrator at the club, high-school'er Bo Kong, was there too; so we walked back to the club together (about 10-15 min. away).

Pre-Round 1

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

Then I chatted with a lawyer/chess friend for a while.

Round 1

The round started almost on time; quite good for a round one!

As usual, I have turned my Game into a “Chess Game Quiz” (See below).

After the game, I watched the finishing games in my section for a while, and I then headed for home by TTC.

The Later Evening

I got home about 11:15 PM. I checked my e-mails and went to bed. I was tired, and had to leave the blog for Friday.

My Reserves (U 1800) Section Report - Rd. 1 - Thursday, Apr. 4/19.

I am rated 1xxx (Part of the contest below). I am in the 2nd of the 2 sections. My section rating spread is effectively, from the 1600's to about 500. I am in the middle third of the section.

Post-Rd. 1 - Reserves' Leaders

There are 80 players; there were 37 boards (The actual number of boards may have playing fewer than the total no. of players, due to byes, suspensions, withdrawals, etc.).

Since we are not using accelerated pairings for the Reserves (Despite 80 players), there are, and will continue to be for a number of rounds, a slew of players tied for 1st place.

[See Parts III & IV below]

Bob A

**Bob Armstrong** · Friday, 5th April, 2019, 04:20 PM

Scarborough Chess Club Championship Swiss – Blog

Rd. 1 - 19/4/4 (Thursday)

Bob's Chess Blog # 1 [ Part III of 4 parts; see Parts I & II above]

My Round 1 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:

Player W - Player Bl [A53]

Scarborough CC Championship (Reserve) (1), 04.04.2019
[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 ACC member I played?

1.d4 d6 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nbd7 4.e4 e5 5.d5 Be7 Player Bl opts for a very simple and classical black structure out of the opening. Can someone tell me the name of this Black Defence? 6.f3 White turns the game into a type of structure you find in the Samisch Line of the King's Indian Defence (But with Bl not having fianchettoed his K-side B). 6...c6 7.Nge2 0–0 8.g4 White plays aggressively for a quick attack 8...Kh8 9.Ng3 Ng8 Black is setting up his/her defence, so s/he can then attack on the Q-side later. 10.h4 So is this just a blunder? Or is W deliberately sacking his hP to half-open the h-file to the Bl K? 10...Bxh4 In either case, Bl says: When material is offered, take it (I think Korchnoi has a famous saying something like this). Bl goes up a P. 11.Nce2 h6 12.Be3 g5 Bl tries to just shut down totally W's attack 13.Qd2 f6 14.0–0–0 W is slowly and deliberately putting pieces in place to continue his attack, which is likely going to have to involve a minor sac somewhere 14...Bxg3 15.Nxg3 Nb6 16.Bd3 Qc7 a very astute move, setting up a discovered pin on W's cP. 17.Rh3 So is this just a blunder? Or is W deliberately sacking his centre P to open the b1–h7 diagonal for his d3B to the Bl K? 17...cxd5 18.exd5 W's d3B now has an open diagonal to the Bl K. 18...Nxd5 Bl uses the pin s/he set up on move 16. Bl is now up 2 P's. [Is playing the following move a better Bl option to win a P, and blunt W's attack? 18...Nxc4 19.Qc3 Is the Bl N lost now?] 19.Bxg5 Bl sacs for an attack. 19...fxg5 Bl is up N + P 20.Qxg5 Bl is up an N. But does W have a decisive attack here? 20...Qg7 Bl decides to sac back the minor in order to blunt W's attack by exchanging Q's......is this dramatic a defence necessary here? [What about the following? 20...Rxf3 21.Rdh1] 21.Qxg7+ Kxg7 22.cxd5 Back to material equality......does W still have any kind of K-side attack? 22...Bd7 23.Rdh1 Rac8+ 24.Kd2 Rc5 25.Ke3 Ra5 Bl made a draw offer [Would Bl have been better to grab the free dP?? 25...Rxd5 26.Bf5] 26.a3 By moving, W shows Bl that his/her draw offer is declined. W is in no danger, and likely at worst has a draw......no reason not to play on and see if s/he can get anything out of this slightly advantageous position. 26...Ra4 27.Bf5 Be8 28.Be6 Bf7 29.Nf5+ W has resurrected another K-side attack 29...Kf6 30.Nxh6 W goes up a P. But does W have any kind of decisive winning move here 30...Bxe6 31.dxe6 Kxe6 Back to material equality again 32.Nxg8 Rxg8 33.Rh6+ Kd5 34.Rd1+ Rd4 35.Rxd4+ exd4+ 36.Kd3 Can either side win this ending? 36...Rf8 37.Rh5+ Ke6 38.Rf5 Is this a blunder into a draw, in a winning game? Or is it just the best that can be achieved? 38...Rxf5 39.gxf5+ Kxf5 40.Kxd4 Ke6 41.a4 a6 42.b4 b6 43.a5 bxa5 44.bxa5 Kd7 45.Kd5 Ke7 46.f4 Kd7 47.f5 Ke7 So..........has Bl now got a draw?? 48.f6+ Kxf6 49.Kxd6 Kf7 50.Kd7 Kf8 51.Kc7 Player W made a draw offer; Player Bl accepted. W can win the Bl aP, but cannot queen unless Player Bl makes an ending mistake (Unlikely, given the way s/he played the game).//

½–½

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 ACC member I played?

Answers

Armstrong, Robert (Bob) J. (1463)
Li, Paco (1205)

My Score

.5/1 pts. - Draw: 1 (Rd. 1)

My Opponents' & My Scores

.5/1 pts. - Me (1485)
- Junior Boy Paco Li (1205) – I drew in Rd. 1.

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!

Some History

Template Note:

The next 2 sections, down to the end of the tournament history, are a 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 the template parts and go to “End of Template” (I will alert you immediately after the template if there are any revisions).

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 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 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 – Toronto (Prior to Christmas - Dec. 14-16/18) - Blogged;
2. The 2019 Hart House Reading Week Open – Toronto (February 16-18 – Only one short blog – having manic phase).
3. The 2019 Quebec Open – Longueuil (Next to Montreal) (July 21-7).
4. The 2019 Toronto Open (Aug. 31 – Sept. 2)

The National Canadian French Chess Discussion Board

Henri Hughes, a member of both the national English and French chess discussion boards (Chess Talk; Parlons Echecs), volunteers, subject to demands of his school studies, to translate my blogs into French, and post them to Parlons Echecs, also owned by Henry Lam. 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 sometimes 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.

Tournaments 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

[See Part IV below]

Bob A

**Bob Armstrong** · Friday, 5th April, 2019, 04:21 PM

Scarborough Chess Club Championship Swiss – Blog

Rd. 1 - 19/4/4 (Thursday)

Bob's Chess Blog # 1 [ Part IV of 4 parts; see Parts I, II & III above]

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)
# 4 – Winter Swiss (4th tournament of the season) - 115 (1800+ - 19; U 1800 - 49; U 1400 Jrs. - 21; 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** · Friday, 12th April, 2019, 06:17 AM

Scarborough Chess Club Championship Swiss – Blog

Rd. 2 - 19/4/11 (Thursday)

Bob's Chess Blog # 2 [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: Club Championship Swiss (# 5 of the 2018-9 Season - runs from Sept. to June – Closed July-August)

When: April 4 – May 23.

Format: 8-round swiss

Sections: 2: Championship; Reserves

Notes re sections:

1. The regular SCC Swisses have 4 sections 1800+; U 1800; U 1400 – Jrs. Only; U 1000 – Juniors Only [playing up within 100 pts. allowed ($ 30 fee)].
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: Bottom 3 sections: 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: 104 (So far) ( Championship (1800+) - 24; Reserves (U 1800) – 80 - 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. 2 – The Wee Hours of Thursday Morning

I woke up at 6:45 AM. (Went to bed @ 12:30 AM). So I got a bit more than 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.

Template Note:

The are sections of this blog that are a standard template which I repeat in each Blog.

The template must be here for any new readers of my Blog.

So I ask my regular readers to be tolerant. If you have read the template part previously, you can skip from Start of Template to “End of Template” (I will alert you immediately after the template if there are any revisions).

START OF TEMPLATE

Victim of Routine

So, as usual, I

a. got up;

b. went down to the kitchen and got my morning coffee;

Then went back up 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 all day long, 24/7!); and

d. finally fired up my old laptop.

My Daily Company/Personal Projects' Tasks

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. Fb Project # 1 (My Company's) - 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-Life-Consulting-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".

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.

Fb Project # 2 (My Own): 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.

I have another retiree project besides my 2 Facebook Projects.

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 the 2 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, though just for a short time. One additional thing I did was to start a hand-written rough 1^st draft of this Blog # 2.

[See Parts II & III below]

Bob A

**Bob Armstrong** · Friday, 12th April, 2019, 06:20 AM

Scarborough Chess Club Championship Swiss – Blog

Rd. 2 - 19/4/11 (Thursday)

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

The Bul**hit Coffee Club

At 7:20 AM, I got dressed and as usual, when I am available, headed out to my coffee club I belong to: The Bul**hit Coffee Club (BCC) – see Template below re some history/facts.

Only 3 of us (Of 8 members) were there today: Helen, Darryl & me. Some of the stuff (among others) we canvassed were:

the subway plan released by the province as part of its taking over the TTC in Toronto;
the difficulty young adults are having financial in today's economy;
the criminal underground in Canadian society – Darryl knew of a situation of a “hit man” neighbour, being followed by the RCMP, who was assassinated one day;
a recent meeting of Helen's Quilting Guild;
Timmins and its history of snow and cold, being so far north in Ontario.

We broke up about 9:00 AM.

START OF BCC TEMPLATE

We hold the BCC in one of my favourite local coffee shops, Patisserie la Cigogne [Stork] (Danforth Ave. & Monarch Park). I stop in for a little over an hour. If I walk very briskly, I can make it door to door in 10 min.! And I recently saw an exercise article that said a number of short bursts of exercise are more beneficial, and less hard on you, than a longer gruelling session. So the club has become my very, very modest morning exercise program.

There are a group of regulars on the 7:30 – 9:00 AM shift (The coffee shop opens at 7:30 AM). It is an informal coffee club (going for a few years now; we actually formed up in another coffee shop nearby that closed; so we just moved en mass). Helen is usually the first member to arrive as soon as they open. I like to get there about 7:40 AM to give the staff a few more minutes to get open and set up. Then I like to work updating my reminder notes (I have a medically defective memory, on top of old age!; no notes.....it falls below the radar!), if Helen didn't make it that day. Most others arrive closer to 8:00 AM.

We are at the moment 8 regulars: Helen, Linda, John # 1, Joe, Darryl, Ed, John # 2, and me. We are open to having new members join. I try to be very careful about privacy of other people in my Blog (Not so concerned about my own, to the extent that I let it hang out somewhat in my blogs). I have canvassed the members about use of first names and all were fine to become infamous!! They felt it could only help the BCC to grow!! And, of course, this is seen as good from our coffee shop host's point of view. Generally, I won't use people's names in my Blog unless I've gotten a “blanket permission” to use them.....easier to remember that way, who is in, and who is out. And most people think it is kind of a hoot to end up having their names broadcast to the world!

END OF BCC TEMPLATE

Back Home

At 9:30 AM, I started with the 35 min. “work for myself” phase of household tasks (Which today ended up being unending until lunch!): my partner and I had to complete making the lunch, since we are having one of our best friends over, and cleaning the place up and straightening. I also was behind on the family finances, and finally got the March month end statements done.

Lunch

Our friend arrived about 11:30 AM and we visited for a bit and then had lunch. Then my partner and her visited, while I cleaned up the dining room table, did all the lunch and other dishes, and straightened the kitchen.

When she left, my wife and I did some of our own life tasks, and then were both pretty tired.

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 I went down for an hour.

Heading Out for Rd. 2

When I got up, I then started a draft on the computer for this Blog # 2. I also dealt with an email from my best friend, one from my accountant (We agreed to have a telephone meeting Friday afternoon), and sent Darryl some material he had asked about this morning during the BCC.

I then prepared my stuff to go to SCC for Rd. 2. I prepared my materials for the SCC Display Table (I do this as a member volunteer job). I printed out the Rd. 1 cross-tables for the 4 sections from the SCC website, so I could put them out on the table.

I was about to leave when a call came in about my partner's mother's estate and we had to set up a time with their accountant. Then we invited my partner's sister to come to a little theatre play with us in a week or so, and so I tried to get an extra ticket (Had to leave a message – hope they aren't already sold out).

At 5:20 PM I finally headed out by TTC for SCC (I am voluntarily no longer driving for the moment – has to do with July 2018 amendment of the Highway Traffic Act of Ontario, which affects drivers who have Bi-Polar Disorder, as I do). It has taken me about an hour. But today I tried a new route: Subway & the Brimley Bus - to get to my favourite Timmies at Ellesmere & Brimley. It was about 10 min. faster. There I relaxed before the round, and updated my "Reminder Lists". I had a very light dinner, and I then got the needed caffeine to go into battle. I walked back to the club (about 10-15 min. away).

Pre-Round 2

I got in and set up the display table and put out the cross-tables. I talked to member Ryan Turchow, new to the club this season. He has joined one of my Facebook groups and we talked about that a bit, and we chatted a bit about my coming out of my recent mania phase, and getting back to normal.

Round 2

After a few announcements, the round started almost on time.

As usual, I have turned my Game into a “Chess Game Quiz” (See below).

After the game, I packed up my display table materials, and headed for home, again by TTC.

The Later Evening

I got home about 10:30 PM. First I took a bit of time to follow my routine for my own projects. Then I started typing up this Blog # 2, and entered my Rd. 2 game and did light annotations. I then went to bed. I was tired, and had to leave the blog for posting on Friday morning.

My Reserves (U 1800) Section Report - Rd. 2 - Thursday, Apr. 11/19.

I am rated 1xxx (Part of the contest below). I am in the 2nd of the 2 sections. My section rating spread is effectively, from the 1600's to about 500. I am in the middle third of the section.

Post-Rd. 2 - Reserves' Leaders

There are 96 players; there were 42 boards (The actual number of boards may have playing fewer than the total no. of players, due to byes, suspensions, withdrawals, etc.).

Since we are not using accelerated pairings for the Reserves (Despite almost 100 players), there are, and will continue to be for a number of rounds, a slew of players tied for 1^st place.

My Round 2 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 (See game below).

Player W - Player Bl [A85]

Scarborough CC Champ (Reserves -U 1800) (2), 10.04.2019
[Armstrong, Robert (Bob) J.]

Questions:

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?

1.d4 f5 Dutch Defence 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nc3 e6 4.Nf3 Ne4 5.Bd2 Be7 6.e3 0–0 7.Bd3 d5 8.c5 I am not a fan of this move 8...Nc6 9.0–0 Nb4 10.Ne5 Nxd3 11.Nxd3 b6 The evaluation of this position is murky to me - I'm not sure who has what! 12.f3 Nxd2 13.Qxd2 bxc5 14.Nxc5 Rb8 In retrospect, it may have been better now for Bl to exchange his B for the c5N. 15.b3 e5 16.f4 e4 What is your view of Bl locking the centre up, at least for the immediate future? 17.Rfd1 c6 18.N3a4 Kh8 19.Rdc1 g5 Bl goes for a K-side attack 20.g3 Rg8 21.Kh1 W decides to just come back and defend (And maybe get a counter-attack). 21...Qe8 22.Rg1 Qh5 23.Rg2 Rg6 24.Rag1 Be6 25.Nxe6 Rxe6 26.Nc5 Rg6 27.Nd7 Rc8 28.Ne5 Rg7 29.Qe2 Qh3 Was exchanging Q's preferable for Bl.? 30.Qa6 A big decision. W feels safe enough on the K-side now, that he can take his Q away from defence, and let her take the offensive. 30...Rcg8 31.Nxc6 gxf4 32.Nxe7 Rxe7 33.Qf6+ Reg7 The g7R is now pinned. 34.gxf4 W goes up a P (On the Q-side, W has 2 P's vs 1 P.) 34...Qf3 pinning the g2R. 35.b4 With all the major pieces tied down, W determines he can just waltz his extra P down to queen. 35...Re8 Beginner blunder, but in an already-lost position 36.Qxg7#

1– - 0

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 - Junior Boy Benjamin de Costa (1232)

Bl - Bob Armstrong (1463)

[See Part III below]

Bob A

**Bob Armstrong** · Friday, 12th April, 2019, 06:22 AM

Scarborough Chess Club Championship Swiss – Blog

Rd. 2 - 19/4/11 (Thursday)

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

My Score

.5/2 pts. - Draw: 1 (Rd. 1); Loss: 1 (Rd. 2)

My Opponents' & My Scores

1.5/2 pts. - Junior Boy Benjamin de Costa (1232) – I lost in Rd. 2.

.5/2 pts. - Me (1463)

- Junior Boy Paco Li (1205) – I drew in Rd. 1.

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!

Some History

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 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 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 – Toronto (Prior to Christmas - Dec. 14-16/18) - Blogged;
2. The 2019 Hart House Reading Week Open – Toronto (February 16-18 – Only one short blog – having manic phase).
3. The 2019 Quebec Open – Longueuil (Next to Montreal) (July 21-7).
4. The 2019 Toronto Open (Aug. 31 – Sept. 2)

The National Canadian French Chess Discussion Board

Henri Hughes, a member of both the national English and French chess discussion boards (Chess Talk; Parlons Echecs), volunteers, subject to demands of his school studies, to translate my blogs into French, and post them to Parlons Echecs, also owned by Henry Lam. 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 sometimes 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.

Tournaments 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. 8

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 (3^rd tournament of the season) - 122 ( 1800+ 20; U 1800 - 52; U 1400 Jrs. - 24; U 1000 Jrs. - 26)

# 4 – Winter Swiss (4^th tournament of the season) - 115 (1800+ - 19; U 1800 - 49; U 1400 Jrs. - 21; 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** · Saturday, 13th April, 2019, 10:13 AM

For those interested, I feel it is worth the effort to do my SCC club blogs......the response (Where there are no comments) seems encouraging enough:

First 12 hrs after posting: 3 views per hour
Second 12 hours - drops by 1/3 (So if I get 36 views in 12 hours, I add another 12 (1/3) in the second 12 hrs., and get to 48 views per 24 hrs.
After 24 hrs., some very modest increase.

Thanks to those who seem to be enjoying a peek into my chess (And life), such as it is! LOL

Bob A

**Bob Armstrong** · Friday, 3rd May, 2019, 11:13 PM

I have been asked why I haven't done blogs covering more rounds of the SCC Club Championship, where I have played.

Sometimes my schedule is simply too tight, and other times, Life Issues do intervene.

I do have to take numbers of byes during the year as well, since I am out of Toronto a lot. I then don't do a blog.

I like to try to get my blog posted the very next day..........when I don't accomplish that, it tends towards becoming stale news. So.............sometimes, I do just bail!

Bob A

**Bob Armstrong** · Friday, 24th May, 2019, 09:35 AM

Scarborough Chess Club Championship Swiss – Blog

Rd. 8 (Final) - 19/5/23 (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: Club Championship Swiss (# 5 of the 2018-9 Season - runs from Sept. to June – Closed July-August)

When: April 4 – May 23.

Format: 8-round swiss

Sections: 2: Championship; Reserves

Notes re sections:

1. The regular SCC Swisses have 4 sections 1800+; U 1800; U 1400 – Jrs. Only; U 1000 – Juniors Only [playing up within 100 pts. allowed ($ 30 fee)].
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: Bottom 3 sections: 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: 136 ( Championship (1800+) - 31; Reserves (U 1800) – 106 – Substantially above 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. 8 – The Wee Hours of Thursday Morning

I woke up at 6:00 AM. (Went to bed @ 11:00 PM Wednesday night). So I got more than 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 if I can.

I am at our hobby farm in Southern Georgian Bay Region, Ontario, Canada. My partner and I live here about 1/2 the year, in Toronto, Ontario about 1/4 of the year, and in Montreal, Quebec about 1/4 of the year. I spent more than an hour pacing on our deck, with my morning coffee, contemplating and just watching all the wildlife already at our bird feeders.

Then we had breakfast and packed up to go live in Toronto –- we left at 9:00 AM

Lunch

At 12:30 PM, we arrived in Toronto and unpacked and settled back into the Toronto house. I checked the mail, listened to telephone messages, and dealt with some e-mails re a financial transaction that had been on hold while I lived at the hobby farm. Then we had lunch.

Errands

My wife and I both have smart phones, but neither of us are very techie, and the phones often baffle us. So off we went to Best Buy (Where we bought each of our phones) to plead for help on getting the contract details for each of us, setting up the Koodo App so we could check our accounts, and explaining and dealing with some billing issues we each had. The tech guy was great, and we left with everything solved that we wanted to deal with.

We got home about 4:30 PM and I did a few things on my retiree computer Facebook projects.

Heading Out for Rd. 8

I then prepared my stuff to go to SCC for Rd. 8 (Final). I prepared my materials for the SCC Display Table (I do this as a member volunteer job). I printed out the Rd. 7 cross-tables for the 2 sections from the SCC website, so I could put them out on the table.

At 5:25 PM I headed out by TTC for SCC (I am voluntarily no longer driving for the moment – has to do with July 2018 amendment of the Highway Traffic Act of Ontario, which affects drivers who have Bi-Polar Disorder, as I do). It takes me about an hour in rush hour. I now go by Subway & the Brimley Bus to get to my favourite Timmies at Ellesmere & Brimley.

There I relaxed before the round. I had a very light snack, and updated my "Reminder Lists", and wrote some draft notes starting this Blog # 3. I then got the needed caffeine to go into battle. Pepin Manalo from the club came in and we talked briefly, and then he went to have his coffee. About 7:00 PM I walked back to the club (about 10 min. away).

Pre-Round 8

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

I talked to member David Lawless, just returned to the club after an absence of many years. We talked about family and kids, and how time flies when you are having fun. His oldest son just got accepted into University of Toronto for a degree in History -– it is quite competitive to get into U of T. I also chatted briefly with my friend Toy Kwan (In my Reserves section).

Round 8 (Final)

After a few announcements, the round started almost on time.

As usual, I have turned my Game into a “Chess Game Quiz” (See below).

After the game, I watched my section games, and the top board where one of the two could become co-champion of the club. Then Toy offered me a ride to the Midland LRT station on his way home. So I packed up my display table materials, and headed for home, again by TTC.

The Later Evening

I got home about 11:30 PM. First I took a bit of time to have a quick late snack. I then went to the computer briefly and did a few things on my Facebook Projects. By then I was tired, and had to leave the blog for writing and posting on Friday morning.

My Reserves (U 1800) Section Report - Rd. 8 - Thursday, May 23/19.

I am rated 1xxx (Part of the contest below). I am in the 2nd of the 2 sections. My section rating spread is effectively, from the 1600's to about 500. I am in the middle third of the section.

Post-Rd. 8 – The Winners/Top Finishers in the Reserves

There are 106 players; there were 35 boards (The actual number of boards may have playing fewer than the total no. of players, due to byes, suspensions, withdrawals, etc.):

1st/2nd - 6.5/8 pts. - Junior Girl Lucy Gao (1576); Scott Huston (1502).

3rd/8th - 6/8 pts. - Junior Boy Aaron Chen (1672); Junior Boy Aaron Liu (1635); Junior Boy Richard Huang (1584); Junior Boy Yathushan Jeyakumar (1446); Junior Boy Frank Wang (1547); Umang Dwivedi (Unr.).

[See Parts II & III below]

Bob A

**Bob Armstrong** · Friday, 24th May, 2019, 09:38 AM

Scarborough Chess Club Championship Swiss – Blog

Rd. 8 (Final) - 19/5/23 (Thursday)

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

My Round 8 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 (See game below).

Player W - Player Bl [B08]

Scarborough CC Champ. (Reserves) (8), 23.05.2019

[Armstrong, Robert (Bob) J.]

Questions:

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

1.e4 g6 Modern Defence - easily transposable 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nc3 d6 4.Nf3 Nf6 transposing into a Pirc Defence 5.Bf4 0–0 6.Bc4 Nc6 7.h3 Nh5 8.Be3 e5 Finally Bl fights for the centre 9.d5 Ne7 10.Qd2 White is looking for a K-side attack 10...f5 Black must move quickly to blunt the coming K-side attack 11.exf5 Rxf5 12.0–0–0 in furtherance of a K-side attack [12.g4 Rxf3 13.gxh5 Rxh3] 12...Rf7 this is just a bad place to put the B; it gives W a free move to just kick it from the square. 13.Ng5 Rf8 14.Be2 Nf6 15.h4 W decides on a K-side attack after all 15...Nf5 attacks the hP and threatens to exchange W's attacking e3B 16.h5 Nxe3 17.Qxe3 h6 hoping to build a solid defence to the attack 18.Nge4 g5 19.Nxg5 W sacs a minor for 2 P's and an attack 19...hxg5 20.Qxg5 Bl is up B vs 2 P's 20...Nh7 21.Qg3 Qg5+ When up material, and under attack, exchange material 22.Qxg5 Nxg5 23.h6 Bf6 24.Bd3 Nh7 25.g4 W will sac a P to open the g-file to the Bl K 25...Bg5+ 26.Kb1 Rxf2 Bl decides to win the gp later, and keep the g-file closed for the moment - a tactical error. Bl is now up B vs P. 27.Bxh7+ the tactic of removing the defender - see what happens next 27...Kxh7 Note that the g5B is no longer defended 28.Ne4 a nice fork 28...Bxg4 Bl is now up a B 29.Nxf2 W wins the wrong piece 29...Bxd1 30.Rxd1 Material equality - but not for long 30...Bxh6 Bl is up a P (Passed) 31.Ne4 Bf4 32.c4 W makes a draw offer; Bl feels it is not that easy to win, even with the extra passed P. He accepts the draw.//

½–½

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 ACC member I played?

Answers
W - Junior Boy Luka Granic (1309)

Bl - Bob Armstrong (1569)

My Score

4/8 pts. (50%)- Win: 1 (Rd. 3); Draw: 3 (Rds. 1,5 & 8); Loss: 1 (Rd. 2); 1/2 Pt. Byes: 3 (Rds. 4,6 & 7)

My Opponents' & My Scores

5.5/8 – Junior Boy Victor Xu (1137) – I drew in Rd. 5.

4/8 pts. - Me (1569)

- Junior Boy Luka Granic (1309) – I drew in Rd. 8.

- Junior Boy Paco Li (1205) – I drew in Rd. 1.

3.5/4 pts. - Junior Boy Benjamin de Costa (1232) – I lost in Rd. 2. He withdrew after Rd. 4.

2.5/7 pts. - Junior Girl Queenie Huang (491) – I won in Rd. 3; she withdrew after Rd. 7.

Top Section

i) Club Co-Champions – 6.5/8 pts.

Andrea La Manna (2312)

Dave Southam (2179) – former club champion; National Master

ii) 2^nd/3^rd – 5.5/8 pts

Junior Boy Jeffrey Xu (2268)

Junior Boy – Nameer Issani (2262) – former club champion.

iii) Scarborough CC Games

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!

[See Part III below]

Bob A

**Bob Armstrong** · Friday, 24th May, 2019, 09:39 AM

Scarborough Chess Club Championship Swiss – Blog

Rd. 8 (Final) - 19/5/23 (Thursday)

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

Some History

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 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 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 – Toronto (Prior to Christmas - Dec. 14-16/18) - Blogged;
2. The 2019 Hart House Reading Week Open – Toronto (February 16-18 – Only one short blog – having manic phase).
3. The 2019 Quebec Open – Longueuil (Next to Montreal) (July 21-7).
4. The 2019 Toronto Open (Aug. 31 – Sept. 2)

The National Canadian French Chess Discussion Board

Henri Hughes, a member of both the national English and French chess discussion boards (Chess Talk; Parlons Echecs), volunteers, subject to demands of his school studies, to translate my blogs into French, and post them to Parlons Echecs, also owned by Henry Lam. 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 sometimes 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.

Tournaments 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. 6

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 (3^rd tournament of the season) - 122 ( 1800+ 20; U 1800 - 52; U 1400 Jrs. - 24; U 1000 Jrs. - 26)

# 4 – Winter Swiss (4^th tournament of the season) - 115 (1800+ - 19; U 1800 - 49; U 1400 Jrs. - 21; 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

**Aris Marghetis** · Friday, 24th May, 2019, 12:15 PM

Bob, no rush, but when convenient, please email me at arismarghetis at rogers dot com (your email address was on my previous laptop, which crashed last year) - thank you, Aris.

**Bob Armstrong** · Friday, 24th May, 2019, 02:21 PM

Hi Aris: You have mail!

Bob A

Scarborough Chess Club Championship Swiss (Apr. 4 - May 23) - Blog

Scarborough Chess Club Championship Swiss (Apr. 4 - May 23) - Blog

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