Annex Chess Club Summer Heat Swiss (July 8 - August 17 [Except Aug. 5]) - Blog

**Bob Armstrong** · Tuesday, 16th July, 2019, 08:05 AM

Annex Chess Club Summer Heat Swiss - Blog

Rd. 2 – Monday, 19/7/15 [Part II of 3 parts; see Part I above]

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Victim of Routine

As usual, I then 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 all day long, 24/7!); and fired up my old laptop.

My Daily Personal Project 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.

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

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So I was soon enmeshed in posting to my various Fb projects. And since I am heading to the Quebec Open Chess Championship on Friday (In Longueuil, Quebec, right next to Montreal), I spent more time than usual on my chess analysis project. I also started the draft of this Blog # 1.

The Afternoon

At 1:00 PM I went and made myself some lunch .... went out on our back deck and enjoyed the backyard wild garden for a while. I am a firm proponent of “Interlude Living”!

Siesta

Given that I usually sleep short compared to many in the morning night (Like....2 1/2 hrs. this morning), and that my partner and I are both over 70 y.o., we have found that the European/Latin American practice of a siesta time in mid-afternoon works really well (We usually set the alarm and do not sleep more than 1 hour). And so I crashed at 2:00 PM. I got up at 3:00 PM with the alarm.

Tidying Up

I called my wife at Spirits' Den, and she had been out stringing up the snap peas and beans, that had grown all over everywhere with us being away for a few weeks. But she's happy as a clam there.....seems she really doesn't miss me much.....hmmm??? Then I firmed up with my sister-in-law, our attendance at our niece's baby shower in a few weeks. Also caught up a bit on our finances.

Then I did some more on my own personal chess openings/defences book......the Quebec Open may well be a disaster-waiting-to-happen!! I feel like I have almost forgotten how to play........

Heading Out for Rd. 2

At 5:15 PM, I printed out the standings for my section.... to record my section results for hopefully getting my blog out early Tuesday morning before I go to bed....depends how tired I may be from re-learning how to play chess tonight.

At about 5:30 PM I headed downtown by TTC . The club is really very quick to get to, door to door – 35 min. generally.

I went to the Annex Food Hall across from the club for a nice Mango Salad...light dinner before the round.

About 7:00 PM I headed over to the club.

Pre-Round 2

I got into ACC about 7:15 PM .

I have been battling a modest depression phase for over a month now, so I pretty much just kept to myself, though Javier Dixon, from my section, and I, chatted a bit. It is best for me not to interact much at these times; I can be somewhat impatient, and the odd time regret later something I sort of spontaneously came out with.

Round 2

After some announcements, the round was started shortly after 7:30 PM.

After the game, I watched some of our section games (And some top section games) still in progress, to get the leader results. When I had the leader results for the U 1800 Section (I like to get my section results before going home, for this blog), I headed home by TTC.

The Late Evening

I got home about 11:59 PM and did a few routine items. But I was too tired to finish the blog. I'll finish it and post it Tuesday, hopefully in the morning.

U 1800 Section Chess Report on Rd. 2 (Monday, July 15, 2019).

My U 1800 Section

I am rated 1517 now. I am ranked # 8 out of 14 players (In the middle third).

Rating Spread

1600’s – 4
1500’s – 4 (my rating is here)
1400’s – 2
1300’s - 4 (Playing up)

Total - 14

U 1800 Standings After Rd. 2

There were 6 boards in the section (The actual number of boards may have playing fewer than the total no. of players, due to byes, withdrawals, suspensions, etc.).

Here are the leaders:

1^st – 2/2 pts. - Vinorth Vigneswaramoorthy (1647)

2^nd/8^th – 1.5/2 pts. - Shafkat Ali (1648); Michael Saltat (1608); Junior Boy William Gao (1529); Charlie Grisar (1496); Ambarish Chandra (1397); George Supol (1381); Ryan Tuchow (1354).

[Part III below]

Bob A

**Bob Armstrong** · Tuesday, 16th July, 2019, 08:07 AM

Annex Chess Club Summer Heat Swiss - Blog

Rd. 2 – Monday, 19/7/15 [Part III of 3 parts; see Parts I & II above]

My Round 2 Game

Here is my game, with a few light annotations, to show some of what I was thinking as I played (No analysis engine yet).

Armstrong, Robert (Bob) J. (1517) – Ali, Shafkat (1648) [D30]

Annex Summer Heat (U 1800) (2), 15.07.2019

[Armstrong, Robert (Bob) J.]

1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.e3 e6 4.c4 c6 5.Bd3 dxc4 6.Bxc4 Bb4+ 7.Bd2 Bd6 8.Bc3 Ne4 9.Qb3 a5 Interesting Q-side play by Shafkat 10.Nbd2 a4 11.Qc2 Nxc3 12.bxc3 This recapture allows the B to retreat to d3, setting up a situation where it is difficult for Shafkat to 0–0 12...b5 13.Bd3 Now difficult for Shafkat to 0–0; this causes him lots of grief. 13...b4 In the post-mortem, Shafkat felt, in retrospect, that he gets nothing for the sac of the P and opening up the Q-side. 14.Rb1 b3 15.axb3 axb3 16.Rxb3 I go up a P; notice that I have 5 developed pieces - Shafkat has 1! 16...Bd7 17.Nc4 Bc7 18.Nfe5 it is an important tactical theme that the N can sac on g6 if the P is ever pushed. 18...Qg5 this prevents me from winning the hP 19.0–0 c5 20.Nxd7 Shafkat's light-squared B has too much potential to cause me grief. 20...Nxd7 21.Rb7 Generally take the 2nd/7th rank when possible 21...Rc8 22.Rfb1 classical doubling of R's on the open file (I do actually know the classical rules.........though I do have great difficulty following them!). 22...cxd4 23.cxd4 with the opening of the file, I have to watch when my c4 N gets pinned by the c8R 23...Ke7 Finally joining his R's 24.Qa4 Qh5 an impressive h2 threat 25.Nd6 this sac is based on having not realized that Shafkat's Q still exercises control over c5. This is my undoing. 25...Kxd6 Shafkat is up N vs P 26.Qb4+ Nc5 27.Rc1 Simple, and likely best, was to give back the P by dxc5 (sigh) 27...Kd7 Getting the c5N out of the pin 28.Bb5+ I was desperate to complete a masterful attack; this loses; best was just 28.....Rxc5. 28...Kd8 29.Rxc5 I am up a P, and now lost 29...Bxh2+ material equality 30.Kf1 Rxc5 31.Qa5+ Why I didn't just play simple is beyond me.....take the c5R and play the ending...and at some point, Rd7+ might be helpful. 31...Bc7 A killer defence. I looked and looked, but the threats are multiple and fatal. 0–1

My Score

.5/2 pts.: Loss: 1 (Rd. 2); Bye (1/2 pt.): 1 (Rd. 1).

My Opponents' & My Scores

1.5/2 pts. - Shafkat Ali (1648) – I lost in Rd. 2.

.5/2 pts. - Me (1517)

Full Results

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

Some History

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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

2015

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

2016

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

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

2017

Peak registrations for 2017:

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

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

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

2018

Changing Leaves Swiss - 59 registrants (Peak registration for 2018)

2018 Average per Tournament – 49 registrations (Down slightly from the annual record of 2015: 54 registrants).

2019 (Current)

# 1 – New Beginnings – 51 registrants: Crown: 11; U 1800: 22; U 1400: 18 – Down slightly from the annual record since keeping stats here: 54 registrations (2015).

# 2 – Club Championship - 50 registrants: Crown: 12; Reserve (U 1800): 38

# 3 – April Fool's - 51 registrants: Crown: 10; U 1800: 26; U 1400: 15

# 4 – Come What May – 51 registrants: Crown: 13; U 1800: 22; U 1400: 16

Average per Tournament (So far) – 51 (Slightly up from 2018's 49)

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Invitation

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

And if some of the players, or non-players, wish to post something to supplement the blog, you are encouraged to do so.

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

Bob A

**Bob Armstrong** · Tuesday, 30th July, 2019, 10:56 PM

Annex Chess Club Summer Heat Swiss - Blog

Rd. 4 – Monday, 19/7/29

Bob's Chess Blog # 2 (Part I of 3 parts)
(See Knight Logo below)

Club

Annex Chess Club, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

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

Tournament # 5

Name: ACC Summer Heat Swiss (5th regular swiss tournament in 2019).
Dates: July 8 – August 12 (Closed Simcoe Day Holiday, August 5)
Rounds: 5
Sections: 3: Crown; U 1800; U 1400.
Section Notes:
1. The summer format is often (Depending on Registrations): Crown (1700 +); U 1700 - where there are usually fewer players; right to play up.
2. The Club Championship has only 2 sections (so lower two sections' players get to play some different opponents): Championship (1800+); Reserves (U 1800); 1700’s have option to play up and usually do.
3. For a short time in 2017, Swisses had 4 sections: Master (2200 +); U 2200; U 1800; U 1400. Players within 100 pts. had the option to play up, and most did. It was temporarily shelved because the top two sections each had too few players; it will be reconsidered if the membership grows, and gets stronger.
Registrations: 42 registrants (So far): Crown: 13; U 1800: 17; U 1400: 12 [Substantially below the 2019 average (So far) of 51; happens during the summer]. ACC tournaments do often accrue players as the tournament progresses.
Rating: All sections are CFC-rated.
Playing Up Option: Players within 100 pts. of the floor of the section above may choose to play up, and most do. No playing up fee.
Time Control: G/90 + 30 sec. (From move 1)
Joining Annex CC: Lots of room and so ACC WELCOMES all new members. You can inquire about joining at the general ACC e-mail address: info@annexchessclub.com. You can join a tournament in progress….you will get ½ pt. byes for the missed rounds (Only two).

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

The Day of Rd. 4 (19/7/29)

Early Monday Morning
Today I am currently living in Toronto. My better half is living for the next while at our hobby farm in the Southern Georgian Bay region, while I am living in Toronto for a few days....bacheloring it!! A bit after midnight, I set the alarm for 7:00 AM, since I intended to go to the Bul**it Coffee Club!
I awoke at 6:00 AM before the alarm. I didn't get my morning coffee downstairs today because it was so close to going to my coffee club. So I just started into my normal daily routine. Before that I checked on the activity around my Quebec Open Chess Championship Blog for the final Rd. 9 (I played last week – 8-day/9 Rd. Tournament in Longueuil, Quebec, outside of Montreal). I was pleasantly surprised that in its first 6 hours of being posted, someone was viewing the blog every 15 minutes for the full 6 hrs. It is encouraging for me to do this labour of love, if others are truly getting a kick out of it.

Template Note:
There 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 “Template Begins” to “Template Ends” (I will alert you immediately after the template if there are any revisions you missed).

TEMPLATE BEGINS

Victim of Routine

As usual, I then 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 all day long, 24/7!); and fired up my old laptop.

My Daily Personal Project 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-Li...lting-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. 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.
9. 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.

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

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[See Parts II & III below]

Bob A

**Bob Armstrong** · Tuesday, 30th July, 2019, 10:59 PM

Annex Chess Club Summer Heat Swiss - Blog

Rd. 4 – Monday, 19/7/29

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

The Bul**hit Coffee Club (BCC)
I dressed and got my stuff ready for my orthotics appointment downtown after coffee club. At 7:30 AM headed out to my favourite morning coffee club, The Bul**it Coffee Club. When I am living in Toronto, I do like to go.
6 of us were there today: Helen; John # 1; Darryl; Joe, Linda, & me. We sat out on the nice patio.
Some of the stuff (among others) we canvassed were:
Politics – USA & Canada
Canadian History - The history and current operation of Canada Post
Sports – The Toronto Blue Jays
- hockey starts soon!
- summer travelling
Human Health – how stupid little accidents can sometimes give rise to major health problems

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BCC Historical Note
The BCC is held in one of my favourite local coffee shops, La Patisserie de Cignogne (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. In late Spring to early Fall, we often meet on the patio.
There are a group of regulars on the 7:30 – 9:00 AM shift (It 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. Darryl is often there with Helen when I arrive. In good weather, we meet on the patio. Most others arrive closer to 8:00 AM.

If no one is there when I get there, then I like to work updating my “Reminder Notes” (I have a medically defective memory, on top of old age!; no notes.....it falls off the radar!).
We are at the moment 8 regulars: Helen, Linda, John # 1, Joe, Darryl, Ed (Rarely), John # 2 (Once per week), 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 pretty much let it all hang out 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 on Fb!

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Back to Monday Morning
We broke up at BCC as usual at 9:00 AM. I then headed for the TTC to go to my orthotics appointment (Haven't been for a year, and my current orthotics look like they've been through the war).
On the way, I stopped in at the office of my personal physician....I wanted an appointment for 11:00 AM. He is my back-up for my Bi-Polar Disorder, and I just wanted to catch him up. But he's on holidays for a few weeks.
At 10:00 AM, I did my orthotics thing, and was out by 10:30 AM.
Next I went to the downtown bus station and got my Wednesday ticket to go up and join my wife at our hobby farm.
Then to the Scotiabank further down Bay Street. On the way I passed a large aboriginal presentation on City Hall Square......part of it dealt with the residential schools legacy.
I got home about noon.

Monday Afternoon
I called my wife at our hobby farm and we chatted about some of the progress she'd made on various of her gardening projects. Then I played around on the laptop for a while.

Siesta
Given that I usually sleep short compared to many in the morning night, and that my partner and I are both over 70 y.o., we have found that the European/Latin American practice of a siesta time in mid-afternoon works really well (We usually set the alarm and do not sleep more than 1 hour). And so I crashed at 2:00 PM. I got up at 3:00 PM with the alarm.

Late Afternoon
I contemplated for a while, since my life has substantially changed in context in the last while......I need to see if I can sort out what is happening.
Then I followed my routine until it was time to go to ACC.

Heading Out for Rd. 4
At 5:30 PM, I went to print out the standings for my section.... to record my section results for hopefully getting my blog out early Tuesday morning before I go to bed....depends how tired I may be. But Marcus Wilker had been away, and so nothing had been updated....it was a bit confusing so I e-mailed ACC I was on my way for Rd. 4 and to let me know if this was not on for some reason.
At about 5:45 PM I headed downtown by TTC . The club is really very quick to get to, door to door – 35 min. generally.
I went to the Annex Food Hall across from the club for a nice Mango Salad...light dinner before the round.
About 6:45 PM I headed over to the club to make sure the round 4 was still on...it was. So I went to the nearby Starbucks on Bloor West, had a dark roast and chocolate chunk cookie (I needed something to aid my contemplation), and relaxed for a while.

Pre-Round 4
I got back to ACC about 7:35 PM .

Round 4
I got to the board a few minutes late. I was black and played Junior Boy Victor Strogonov (1431).
After the game, I watched our section games (And some top section games) still in progress, right through to conclusion. I learned something about endings. I like to get the leader results before I leave, for this blog, in case there is any glitch getting the results up on Chess-Results. When I had the leader results for the U 1800 Section, I headed home by TTC with my chess friend, Javier Dixon (My section).

The Late Evening
I got home just a bit after midnight and celebrated with a big dish of ice-cream. Then I did a few routine items on my laptop. But I was too tired to finish this blog. So I left it to finish and post Tuesday, hopefully in the morning.

U 1800 Section Chess Report on Rd. 4 (Monday, July 29, 2019).

My U 1800 Section
I am rated 1517 now. I am ranked # 9 out of 17 players (In the middle third).

Rating Spread

1600’s – 5
1500’s – 4 (my rating is here)
1400’s – 3
1300’s - 4 (Playing up)
1200's – 1 (Brought up originally, maybe, to give an even number of players)

Total - 17

(See Part III below)

Bob A

**Bob Armstrong** · Tuesday, 30th July, 2019, 11:00 PM

Annex Chess Club Summer Heat Swiss - Blog

Rd. 4 – Monday, 19/7/29

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

U 1800 Standings After Rd. 4
There were 6 boards in the section (The actual number of boards may have playing fewer than the total no. of players, due to byes, withdrawals, suspensions, etc.).

Here are the leaders:

1st – 3.5/4 pts. - Vinorth Vigneswaramoorthy (1647)

2nd/3rd – 3/4 pts. - Shafkat Ali (1648); Junior Boy William Gao (1529).

My Round 4 Game
Here is my game, with a few light annotations, to show some of what I was thinking as I played (No analysis engine yet).

Strogonov,Victor (1431) - Armstrong,Robert (Bob) J. (1517) [B27]

Annex CC Summer Heat (U 1800) (4), 29.07.2019
[Armstrong, Robert (Bob) J.]

1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nf3 c5 Modern Defence 4.Nc3 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Qb6 6.Nb3 Nc6 7.Be3 Qc7 8.Bb5 a6 9.Be2 e6 10.0–0 b5 11.a3 Victor doesn't want his c3N kicked 11...Nge7 12.Qd2 Bb7 13.Nc5 Rd8 14.Nxb7 seems good to get rid of a potential K-side attacking B (And for an N). 14...Qxb7 15.Rad1 opens the possibility of a back rank mate if the c6N moves and the file is opened 15...d5 16.exd5 exd5 17.Bf3 d4 a miscalculation; I will lose a P 18.Bxc6+ Qxc6 19.Ne2 d3 If I have to go down a P, I might as well give Victor an isolated, passed P, rather than 3 connected Q-side P's 20.cxd3 Victor goes up a P 20...Nf5 21.d4 0–0 I did not really like exchanging the e3B, and giving Victor a supporting P for his passed P. 22.d5 Push passed P's when you can! 22...Qb7 23.Bc5 Nd6 Blockading the isolated P is often good 24.Qf4 Rfe8 Counter-attack defending 25.Nc3 cementing the "perhaps winning passed P" 25...Nc4 the bP is my target for getting back material equality 26.Ne4 causes Victor problems 26...f5 allowing a check on f6 would be a disaster 27.Nd6 Nxd6 28.Bxd6 this B is lost 28...Re4 29.Qg3 Rg4 30.Qe3 Rxd6 I am up B vs P (Passed) 31.Qe8+ Bf8 32.Rfe1 Qf7 try to exchange when up material

0–1

My Score
2/4 pts.: Win: 1 (Rd. 4); Loss: 1 (Rd. 2); Byes (1/2 pt.): 2 (Rds. 1 & 3).

My Opponents' & My Scores

3/4 pts. - Shafkat Ali (1648) – I lost in Rd. 2; in a 2-way tie for 2nd.
2/4 pts. - Me (1517)
1/4 pts. - Junior Boy Victor Strogonov (1431) – I won in Rd. 4.

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

TEMPLATE BEGINS

Bob's Blog - Some History

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

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

2016
Back to the Grind Swiss – 48 registrations (Peak registration for 2016)
2016 Average per tournament: 43 registrations (Down significantly from the prior year - 54).

2017
Peak registrations for 2017:
Club Championship – 60! registrants: Championship (1800+): 20; Reserves (U 1800): 40.
Summer in the City Swiss – 60! registrants: Masters 8; U 2200 – 7; U 1800 – 10; U 1400 – 12.
2017 Average per Tournament – 53 registrants (2nd highest since keeping records here)

2018
Changing Leaves Swiss - 59 registrants (Peak registration for 2018)
2018 Average per Tournament – 49 registrations (Down slightly from the annual record of 2015: 54 registrants).

2019 (Current)
# 1 – New Beginnings – 51 registrants: Crown: 11; U 1800: 22; U 1400: 18 – Down slightly from the annual record since keeping stats here: 54 registrations (2015).
# 2 – Club Championship - 50 registrants: Crown: 12; Reserve (U 1800): 38
# 3 – April Fool's - 51 registrants: Crown: 10; U 1800: 26; U 1400: 15
# 4 – Come What May – 51 registrants: Crown: 13; U 1800: 22; U 1400: 16

Average per Tournament (So far) – 51 (Slightly up from 2018's 49)

TEMPLATE ENDS

Invitation
I am most happy to interact with readers re anything about which I have posted.....so react, comment, reply, post, etc. - both favourable comments and constructive criticism....I will do my best to respond to everyone, so long as I am where I have access to the internet.
And if some of the players, or non-players, wish to post something to supplement the blog, you are encouraged to do so.
So jump in with both feet, and we'll all enjoy the blogging adventure!

Bob A

Annex Chess Club Summer Heat Swiss (July 8 - August 17 [Except Aug. 5]) - Blog

Annex Chess Club Summer Heat Swiss (July 8 - August 17 [Except Aug. 5]) - Blog

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