Scarborough Chess Club Jack Frost Swiss (Jan. 9 - Feb. 13, 2020) – Blog

**Bob Armstrong** · Friday, 10th January, 2020, 08:37 PM

Scarborough Chess Club Jack Frost Swiss – Blog

Rd. 1 – 20/1/9 (Thursday)

Bob's Chess Blog # 1 [ Part 2 of 3 parts; see Part I above]

Back to Thursday Morning

So I started into my normal routine without my normal morning caffeine fix. But I do limit my caffeine intake in a day, by using 1/2 decaf & 1/2 dark roast!

I usually begin to draft my SCC Blog the day before (on Wednesday) - I sort of add to it as I go through the day, and then try to finalize it and post it in the wee hours of Friday morning. We often go to our hobby farm early on Friday morning, so I usually like to get the blog finished before I go to sleep if possible (Our farm is an almost internet/computer-free zone, so I cannot finish and post it there). If I have to leave for the farm Friday morning, I get up early enough to get it posted before we have to go.

But I didn't get it started on Wednesday, and so I started it this morning.

I then launched into my regular routine. In my chess time, I am working on one opening at the moment – playing the Modern Defence as Black.

The Later Morning

At 8:30 AM, my wife and I headed out to walk to our new gym, where we got a membership at the end of 2019 – just to check it out this morning, since we both had morning appointments we had to make.

Then I headed home (I had missed going to my usual Bul**it Coffee Club at Patisserie La Cigogne because of the gym visit). My wife headed out on the TTC.

Back at Home

My needing to be home was because we were getting our annual furnace maintenance done, sometime between 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM. While waiting I followed my 35/25 system.

One family task thing was to cancel our Bell Long-Distance plan since we both now had cell phones for long-distance calls. Cut back our landline phone bill by $ 42/mo.! Next step – to get rid of the landline totally as soon as our friends are alerted and given our cell phone numbers.....taking care of business in the new decade!!

A second “working for ourselves” task was to get out the waste for Friday pick-up. Then I straightened the kitchen and put away the dishes in the drying rack. Next I had to do some paperwork for our monthly budget.

Then came an outside of the routine “My Own Time” task – The World-Wise Lunch Club, group of 9 people to which I belong (And was one of 3 Founding Members). I needed to get out an e-mail, as Club Coordinator, and then as Newsletter Editor, put out our Issue # 5.

My furnace maintenance guy never showed, and so I e-mailed to find out the status. He rescheduled to 3:00 PM, and fortunately I could be here.

The Afternoon

I again followed my 35/25 system for a short time, and then my wife returned from her appointment.

So we made her Hummus recipe (from scratch), and put some into the freezer. Then we prepared “linner” and sat down about 2:30 PM. I prefer this on chess nights.

This time Max was right there at 3:00 PM. He worked 'til 4:00 PM and gave our furnace a clean bill of health.

Siesta

Given that I usually sleep short compared to many in the early morning (night), and that I am working on year number 75 this year, I have found that the European/Latin American practice of a siesta time in mid-afternoon works really well (I usually set the alarm and do not sleep more than 1 hour). My wife, because of her health, also is tired by then.

So I went for a siesta at 4:00 PM. We take the landline phone off the hook and shut off cell phones – drives the family and friends nuts, but they've adjusted.

I woke up with my alarm at 5:00 PM. I then continued at my laptop for a while, not in any hurry tonight.

Heading Out for Rd. 1

I then prepared my stuff to go to SCC. I printed out the cross-tables – I use them to record myself the top results in my section, for this Blog # 1. I also prepared my materials for the SCC Display Table (I do this as a member volunteer job).

At 6:00 PM I headed out by car for SCC.

I went to my Timmies at Ellesmere and Brimley for a very short while, compared to usual. I got the needed caffeine to go into battle and worked for a while on updating my “Reminder Book” and my “Organizer”. At 7:00 PM I drove back to the club (about 5 min. drive away).

Pre-Round 1

I got in and set up the whole display table, and put out the cross-tables. I chatted briefly with Maurice Smith, our VP, about a mutual friend. Then I chatted with some members looking for their new rating after the Falling Leaves Swiss before Christmas 2019.

Round 1

Because it was the first round, and there were on-site entries, the round started a bit late. The game is below.

Post Rd. 1

After the game I watched the rest of the games, until I had the number of games won for all sections. Toy Kwan (My Section) told me about a St. Lawrence River Cruise out of Montreal, and said he'd send me the information.

Then I packed up my display table stuff and headed for home at 10:45 PM.

The Later Evening

I got home about 11:15PM, and my wife was still up and reading. We chatted a bit.

Then I went and did a bit on my own projects on the laptop.

But I was then to tired to enter my game and finish this Blog # 1, and left it to Friday.

I went to bed at 11:45 PM.

My U 1800 Section Report - Rd. 1- Thursday, Jan. 9/20.

I am rated 1597. I am in the 2nd of the 4 sections. My section rating spread is effectively, from the high1600's to about 1000. I am in the top third of the section.

Post-Rd. 1– U 1800 Decisive Games

There are 47 players in our section; but there were only 21 boards (The actual number of boards may have playing fewer than the total no. of players, due to byes, suspensions, withdrawals, etc.).

Here are the no. of decisive games: 20/21. This is not unusual since Rd. 1 is when the greatest rating discrepancy occurs.

My Round 1 Game

Here is my full analysis (Own & Engine).

Zhong, Ryan – Armstrong, Robert (Bob) J. (1597) [A40]

Scarborough CC Jack Frost (U 1800) (1), 09.01.2020
[Armstrong, Robert (Bob) J.]

1.d4= For analysis of the first 10 moves, see Modern Defence 1...g6 2.Nf3 Bg7 3.c4 c5 Modern Defence 4.e3 Qb6 Somewhat Hoakey Line 5.Nc3 e6 Opening Error 6.Be2 [6.Na4 Qc7 7.Nxc5 b6 (7...d6 8.Qa4+ Nc6 9.Nb3 W is up a P) 8.Ne4 W is up a P(8.Nb3 W is up a P) ] 6...Ne7 7.0–0 [7.Na4 Qc7 8.Nxc5 W is up a P] 7...d5 8.Na4 Qc7 9.cxd5 cxd4 10.dxe6 Bxe6+- Ryan already has a "winning" advantage 11.Nxd4 Ryan goes up a P 11...Bd5?+- (3.95 by reverse projection) [11...Bd7+- (1.49 by reverse projection) 12.b4 0–0+- (1.49 - verified depth 34)] 12.Nc3?+- (1.84 by reverse projection) [12.Nb5+- (3.95 by reverse projection) 12...Qd8 13.e4 Bc6+- (3.95 - verified depth 28)(13...Bxe4 14.Nd6+ Kf8 15.Nxe4+-) ] 12...Bc6?+- (3.31 by reverse projection) [12...0–0+- 13.Ndb5 Qd7+- (1.84 - verified depth 33)] 13.Ndb5 Bxb5 [13...Qd8+- 14.e4 Qxd1 15.Rxd1 Na6+- (3.31 - verified depth 30)] 14.Nxb5 Qb6 15.Nd6+ Kf8 16.Bf3?+- (2.19 by reverse projection) [16.Bc4+- Nbc6+- (3.90 - verified depth 24)] 16...Nbc6 17.Qe2?!± [17.Bd2+- Qc7 18.Ne4 Be5+- (2.19 - verified depth 28)] 17...Rd8 18.Rd1 a6?!+- [18...Ne5 19.Nxb7 Nxf3+ 20.Qxf3 Rxd1+ 21.Qxd1 Bf6±] 19.Qc4??–+ Mate threat - but a mistake. I get a "winning" advantage [19.Rb1+- Qc7 20.Ne4 Be5+-] 19...Ne5 20.Qb3 Nxf3+ getting rid of the B that is protecting the d1R 21.gxf3 Qxb3 22.axb3 Be5 the N is pinned 23.Ra4?–+ [23.Bd2–+ Rxd6 24.Bc3 Rxd1+ 25.Rxd1 Bxc3 26.bxc3 Ke8–+ (- 2.99 - verified depth 27)] 23...Rxd6 I am up N vs P 24.Bd2?–+ (- 4.54 by reverse projection) Ryan is putting this B into a pin. [24.Rxd6–+ Bxd6 25.Rd4 Nf5–+ (- 3.34 - verified depth 28)] 24...Bxb2 (- 4.28 by reverse projection) I am up an N [24...Kg7–+ 25.Kf1 Rhd8–+ (- 4.54 - verified depth 27)] 25.e4 I totally missed the point of this move - to allow the d2B to check! [25.Kf1–+ f5 26.Ke1 Kf7–+ (- 4.28 by reverse projection)] 25...Bc3??+- Blunder - Now there is no pin on the d2B! Ryan gets back a "winning" advantage. [25...Be5–+ 26.Bh6+ Ke8 27.Rxd6 Bxd6–+ (- 4.49 - verified depth 21)] 26.Bh6+ Bg7 27.Bxg7+ Kxg7 28.Rxd6 Ryan is up the exchange 28...Rb8 29.Rb4 Nc6??+- (8.13 - verified depth 22) One can only blunder so many times before eventually losing [29...a5+- 30.Rb5 Kf8+- (3.93 - verified depth 24)] 30.Rxc6 the bP is pinned
1–0

My Score

0/1 pts. - Loss: 1 (Rd. 1).

[Part III below]

Bob A

**Bob Armstrong** · Friday, 10th January, 2020, 08:43 PM

Scarborough Chess Club Jack Frost Swiss – Blog

Rd. 1 – 20/1/9 (Thursday)

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

My Opponents' & My Scores

1/1 pts. - Junior Boy Ryan Zhong (1330) – I lost in Rd. 1.
0/1 pts. - Me (1597)

Other Sections' Decisive Games

1800 + - 5/7
U 1400 Juniors – 4/8
U 1000 Juniors – 12/14

Top Section 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!

Some History

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

These next 2 sections are another template.

TEMPLATE BEGINS

SCC Tournament Registration History

2013-4 Season

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

2014-5 Season

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

2015-6 Season

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

2016-7 Season

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

2017-8 Season

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

2018-9 Season

Club Championship (5th tournament of the season) – 137 (Championship - 31; Reserves - 106) – Peak registration of the season.
Season Average Registration (For 6 tournaments): 120 (Almost at the prior 2017-8 Season Average of 121; our historical high from a few years ago (2016-7) is 133).

2019-20 Season (Current)

# 1 – Howard Ridout Memorial: 122 ( 1800+ - 20; U 1800 – 52; U 1400 (Jrs. Only) – 19; U 1000 (Jrs. Only) - 31)

# 2 – Falling Leaves: 120 (1800+ - 18; U 1800 – 51; U 1400 (Jrs. Only) – 20; U 1000 (Jrs. Only) - 31) -

Season Average Registration (For 2 tournaments so far): 121 - above last season's average per tournament: 118.

Bob's Blog

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

i) on my personal Facebook Account for my over 900 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...ss-disc…), now owned by Henry Lam;
iii) occasionally on other chess websites, such as that of FQE (Province of Quebec's Chess Association). On the one occasion this was done, 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, under my own personal account - 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 (http://www.scarboroughchessclub.ca/).
iii) my Annex CC tournaments Fb blog to ACC's Fb Group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/172335039452033/).

Henry Lam (Aka Dark Knight on CT), the owner of CT, and I have now done a first renewal of our “Henry/Bob Blog Agreement” (Original agreement - summer of 2018). Under it I agreed to re-post my Fb Chess Blogs on CT for both my chess club official tournaments, subject to the condition that interest did not wane to such an extent that it was no longer worth making the effort to do the blog. This has now happened re the Annex CC blog, and I am therefore no longer blogging those club tournaments. I also agreed to blog my non-club weekend (Sometimes longer; sometimes shorter) tournaments, in which I play between Summer 2019 and Summer 2020. Henry and I have a clause for consideration of annual renewal.

So, under this new agreement, I am now re-posting my blogs of my current Scarborough CC tournaments. My future non-club weekend blogs, to and including Summer 2020, 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, or fail to play one that is intended):

1. The 2019 Hart House Holidays Open – Toronto (Dec. 13-15).
2. The 2020 Hart House Reading Week Open – Toronto (February 15-17).
3. The 2020 Canadian Open (July 16-22).
4. The 2020 Toronto Open (Sept. 5-7)

This year so far, I have managed to insert one additional tournament into the Fall – The Canadian International Open – Longueuil, Quebec (Oct. 11-3, 2019).

The Blog Focus

I mainly focus on the section I am playing in (Has been U 2000, U 1900, U 1800 or U 1700). 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 (Players 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 sometimes cover (Bare Bones) the top section standings; but I have to have been able to get the results before the Blog goes to press. For this section, of course, including 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 during the day of club tournaments, and before and between rounds for weekend tournaments (A bit of a reality show - bits of my personal, though generally pretty ordinary, life).

I know many other chess players approach tournaments quite differently than I do (E.g. - study, research opponents to prepare for them, etc.!). So one cannot generalize from what I do, to what other chess tournament players do.

Blog Feedback

I have had generally positive feedback on my blogging (I have done it for many, many years now, as some long-suffering viewers know), 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 all these years (I'm now working on year 75 (Not of blogging! LOL) – I do hope, as long as there is interest, to keep doing my blogs for many years yet).

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!

TEMPLATE ENDS

Bob A

**Bob Armstrong** · Friday, 17th January, 2020, 12:39 PM

Scarborough Chess Club Jack Frost Swiss – Blog

Rd. 2 – 20/1/16 (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: Jack Frost Swiss (# 3 of the 2019-20 Season)

When: January 9 – Feb. 13.

Format: 6 - round swiss

Sections: 4: The regular SCC Swisses have 4 sections 1800+; U 1800; U 1400 – Jrs. Only; U 1000 – Juniors Only [playing up within 100 pts. allowed – free].

Notes re sections:

The Club Championship has only 2 sections: Championship; Reserves.
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.

Registration: 115 (1800+ - 18; U 1800 – 47; U 1400 (Jrs. Only) – 20; U 1000 (Jrs. Only) - 30) – below this season's average per tournament (So far): 121.

Time Control: Top Section: G/60 + 30 sec. (From move 1)

- Bottom 3 sections: G/70 + 15 sec. (From move 1).

Rating: a. All sections are CFC-rated.

b. The top section is also FIDE rated.

Playing Up: Players within 100 pts. of the floor of the section above have the option to play in their section, or, in the next section up – no fee.

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, called The REAL News, is re-posted a few other places - so references here refer to this Fb platform.
The Day of Rd. 2 (Feb. 16)

Thursday Morning

Today I am currently living in Toronto, Ontario, and so am able to play. When I am living in my two other locations (Ontario hobby farm; Montreal, Quebec), I take byes/withdraw.

I awoke at 4:30 AM, before the alarm; I had gone to bed at 11:00 PM on Wednesday – a fairly normal length of sleep for me (But often during weekend tournaments I sleep much shorter, and get substantially less than my usual sleep).

I got my morning coffee downstairs today, as usual, to take upstairs to my home office.

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 before the template if there are any revisions you won't have read previously).

For regular readers, there have been some changes to my retiree projects below in the template.

TEMPLATE BEGINS

Victim of Routine

I am retired + unemployed – life is quite fine overall - except for my slave-driver company, The REAL News.ca Cooperative [Quite a mouthful, but simply put: TRN], where I must volunteer my work time for free all day long, 24/7! I have created a monster!

My mornings tend to be pretty scripted – who isn't a victim of routine?

So I settled in to my comfy home office and fired up my old laptop to follow my general daily routine tasks.

My Daily Personal Project Tasks

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

2. Check new posts/comments on ChessTalk (CT).

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 re-post the most relevant...see below.
Check my Fb “Notifications” of my friends posts on their timelines, sometimes their timelines directly, and my own newsfeed of friends' posts to see the most relevant that I can “share” to my projects or re-post...see below.
Fb Project # 1 (My Company/Personal Fb Account) - My little company (In the process of being legally incorporated, after only being formed in Dec., 2019, as a federal unregistered sole proprietorship) is called, as said above, The REAL News.ca Cooperative (TRN). This Fb account is a news of the universe (world events/politics, human health & diet, Science & Technology, Entertainment, etc.) discussion group that I have created here on my own personal Fb account. Those posting/reacting, such that their names appear on the site, are a group we call PEERS (A Discussion Club of Equals) – the PEERS' members, along with TRN, do the news re-broadcasting.

So I update my Fb personal account, managed by my company, re-broadcasting news found elsewhere, and from time to time, other PEERS' members post as well.

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

7. Fb Project # 2 (2^nd company page - Canadian Life Consulting (CLC) - https://www.facebook.com/Canadian-Life-Consulting-16406543…/. , adminstered by my federal unregistered sole proprietorship company, Canadian Life Consulting Cooperative (CLCC). I do news re-posts from the sites mentioned above that are specifically relevant to this page.
8. 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.
9. Fb Project # 3 (On behalf of a religious community I am forming) - When I find them, I share religious (All Religions) posts to my religious community's Fb Page, Theist Community (https://www.facebook.com/Theist-Comm...dmin_todo_tour). Sometimes these re-posts also appear in TRN.

10. Update the discussion group formed under my community's page. It is called Spiritual/Religions Discussion Club (Or SRDC) - https://www.facebook.com/groups/2042495809374373/. I update it by sharing some more discussable of the posts now on the Theist Community page.

11. Fb Project # 4 (On behalf of a political party I would like formed) – Democratic Marxist – Global – https://www.facebook.com/Democratic-...dmin_todo_tour.

12. Update the discussion group formed under the political party page. It is called Democratic Marxist Global Forum – https://www.facebook.com/groups/2045...=nf&__tn__=C-R. I update it by sharing some more discussable of the posts now on the DMG page. Some of these posts are shared to TRN.

13. I have another retiree project besides my 4 Facebook Projects.

Chess is a passionate hobby of mine, as you know. It is part of what I call my “Interlude Living”. 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 3 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

TEMPLATE ENDS

[Parts II & III below]

Bob A

**Bob Armstrong** · Friday, 17th January, 2020, 12:42 PM

Scarborough Chess Club Jack Frost Swiss – Blog

Rd. 2 – 20/1/16 (Thursday)

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

Back to Thursday Morning

So I started into my normal routine.

I usually begin to draft my SCC Blog the day before (on Wednesday) - I sort of add to it as I go through the day (Thursday - today), and then try to finalize it and post it in the wee hours of Friday morning. We often go to our hobby farm early on Friday morning, so I usually like to get the blog finished before I go to sleep if possible (Our farm is an almost internet/computer-free zone, so I cannot finish and post it there). If I have to leave for the farm Friday morning, I get up early enough to get it posted before we have to go.

But I didn't get it started on Wednesday, and so I started it this morning.

I then went back into my regular routine.

The Later Morning

At 6:15 AM, my wife got up with the alarm. After breakfast, we headed out to walk to our new gym, where we got a membership at the end of 2019.

Then we headed home...... a 3-hr. Round-trip commitment because we walk 1/2 hr. to get there.....how long can we maintain this one??? I am now attending my up-to-now usual Bul**it Coffee Club (BCC) at Patisserie La Cigogne only once a week because of the gym visit. The morning each week I do go, we have to get up at 5:00 AM, which we have been doing. Here is the template about the BCC.

TEMPLATE BEGINS

BCC Historical Note

The BCC is held in one of my favourite local coffee shops, La Patisserie de Cigogne (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!

TEMPLATE ENDS

Back at Home

I now used my 35/25 system.

One of my “working for ourselves” tasks I had was to get an appointment with my dentist to get a new teeth appliance (To stop teeth grinding while sleeping). Another was to confirm to my sister-in-law that her cousin in England had advised he did not get her birthday/Christmas e-mail.

“Working for the family” tasks were to get out the compost and recycles for Fri. AM pick-up, and straighten the kitchen and put away the dry dishes.... some of life is pretty darn mucho boring......

My wife was exhausted (Didn't get a long sleep + the work-out), so she took an early half-hour siesta. I went to the home office.

Next my wife headed for her potters Cooperative workshop to do one of her member jobs, and work on some pieces she had in process.

Siesta

Given that I usually sleep short compared to many in the early morning (night), and that I am working on year number 75 this year, I have found that the European/Latin American practice of a siesta time in mid-afternoon works really well (I usually set the alarm and do not sleep more than 1 hour). My wife, because of her health, also is usually tired by then. We take the landline phone off the hook and shut off cell phones – drives the family and friends nuts, but they've adjusted.

But I found I also was tired by 11:15 AM (Unusual – the gym?). So I also took an early 1 hr. nap.

The Afternoon

I got up with the alarm.

Then at 12:30 AM, I had to go to my cardiologists for an echo-cardiogram for my heart (Slightly collapsing aortic valve – not life threatening, but must know if it is hardening further – do this yearly)

Then I came home and again followed my 35/25 system for a short time.

My wife arrived home at 3:45 PM, and so we prepared “linner” and sat down to eat about 4:00 PM. I prefer this on chess nights.

After eating, I went back to continuing this Blog # 2, and tended to my routine personal tasks.

Heading Out for Rd. 2

I then prepared my stuff to go to SCC. I printed out the cross-tables – I use them to record myself the top results in my section, for this Blog # 2. I also prepared my materials for the SCC Display Table (I do this as a member volunteer job).

At 5:20 PM I headed out by car for SCC.

I went to my Timmies at Ellesmere and Brimley Ave. I got the needed caffeine to go into battle and worked for a while on updating my “Reminder Book” (I have a worse than normal terrible memory) and my “Organizer”. At 7:00 PM I drove back to the club (about 5 min. drive away).

Pre-Round 2

I got in and set up the whole display table, and put out the cross-tables. I chatted briefly with Dave Southam (So I could get him into the blog!!!). Then Greg Beal (Top Section) and I chatted about his returning to SCC to play, after not playing for several years. Toy Kwan (My section) joined us, and he told Greg he played as a junior, didn't play for 45 years, and then came back to the game.

Round 2

The round started right on time. The game is below.

Post Rd. 2

After the game I watched the rest of the games, until I had the leaders for all sections. I chatted briefly with Omar Shah, SCC President, about the upcoming weekend tournament in February, the Hart House Reading Week Open. Then Toy and I chatted about our wins tonight.

Then I packed up my display table stuff and headed for home at 10:30 PM.

The Later Evening

On the way home, I noticed gas prices had dropped........and they would go back up on the weekend. So although I did have 1/2 tank, I stopped and filled up.

I got home shortly after 11:00 PM, and my wife was still up and watching a movie. She stopped just long enough to find out my result (No explanations please!), and then went back to her movie.......I was just left to my own devices.

So I then went and did a bit on my own projects on the laptop.

I entered my Rd. 2 game with light annotations (See below), but I was then too tired to finish this Blog # 2, and left it to Friday.

I went to bed just before midnight Friday.

My U 1800 Section Report - Rd. 2- Thursday, Jan. 16/20.

I am rated 1597. I am in the 2nd of the 4 sections. My section rating spread is effectively, from the high1600's to about 1000. I am in the top third of the section.

Post-Rd. 2– U 1800 Leaders

There are 48 players in our section; but there were only 18 boards (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/7^th – 2 pts. - Junior Boy Larry Yang (1692); Junior Boy Lefan Yang (1567); Toy Kwan (1553); Junior Boy Michael Wang (1500); Junior Boy Adam Li (1499); Junior Boy Daniel Yuan (1486); John Stitt (1064).

[Part III below]

Bob A

**Bob Armstrong** · Friday, 17th January, 2020, 12:44 PM

Scarborough Chess Club Jack Frost Swiss – Blog

Rd. 2 – 20/1/16 (Thursday)

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

My Round 2 Game

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.

Armstrong, Robert (Bob) J. (1597) – Mates, Alexander (1268) [E81]

Scarborough CC Jack Frost (U 1800) (2), 16.01.2020

[Armstrong, Robert (Bob) J.]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 King's Indian Defence 5.f3 Samisch Variation 5...0–0 6.Be3 c5 7.d5 Qb6 a somewhat unusual continuation 8.Qd2 Nbd7 9.f4 in hindsight, I think this was premature; and it helped Alex to get rid of my dark-squared B; his dark-squared B then became quite a monster. 9...Ng4 10.0–0–0 a bit risky castling long towards Alex's Q 10...Nxe3 11.Qxe3 a6 12.h3 Qa5 13.Kb1 b5 a good offer of a P-sac - would get him lots of attacking play. 14.Rc1 I don't want to win the P at the expense of half opening up the a-file. Also, c3 needs shoring up; also I make d1 available for my N, which protects b2. 14...b4 15.Nd1 Rb8 16.Nf3 Qa4 17.g4 Alex attacked first; I think I really will get no counter-attack going. 17...b3 18.a3 Rb4 there is nothing forcing for Bl to continue the attack; so setting a mating trap is a Plan B. 19.e5 finally shutting out the monster g7B; also it is good for my d1N to now return to c3. 19...Nb6 a bad blunder, trying to continue his attack 20.Nc3 Qa5 21.axb4 Qxb4 I am up R vs P 22.Nd2 Na4 Alex had 2 min. left (Taken him a long time to sort out his attack); I had 41 min. left. 23.Nxa4 Qxa4 24.Qxb3 I am up a R 24...Qxb3 25.Nxb3 dxe5 26.fxe5 Bxe5 27.Nxc5 Bd4 Alex is willing to blitz, though lost, hoping I may make a mistake - and he does still have 3 major pieces to give him some play. 28.Nb3 Bg7 29.Bg2 Bd7 30.Rhe1 I miss the danger of Alex getting control of the half-opened b-file. 30...Rb8 31.Ka2 Ba4 32.Re3 Bh6 33.Rcc3 Bxe3 34.Rxe3 I am now up only a B; but it did reduce Alex's number of pieces to keep playing with. 34...Rb4 35.Bf1

1–0

My Score

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

My Opponents' & My Scores

1/2 pts. - Me (1597)

- Junior Boy Ryan Zhong (1330) – I lost in Rd. 1.

0/2 pts. - Alex Mates (1268) – I won in Rd. 2.

Other Sections' Leaders

1800 +

1^st – 2 pts. - Junior Boy Fengxi Mao (2246).

2^nd/7^th – 1.5 pts. - Junior Boy Raymond Gao (2042); David Lawless (2035); Junior Boy Jonathan Hay (2007); Junior Boy Benjamin Wu (1872); Junior Boy Edward Xiao (1855); Junior Boy Aaron Liu (1744).

U 1400 Juniors

1^st/2^nd – 2 pts. - Daniel Esson (1096); Junior Girl Mathusha Jeyakumar (990).

3^rd/4^th – 1.5 pts. - Andrew Li (1104); Percy Xing (970).

U 1000 Juniors

1^st/4^th – 2 pts. - Joey Zhang (889); Eric Zhou (791); Charles Huang (656); Aidan Ramdyal (497).

Top Section 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!

Some History

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

These next 2 sections are another template.

TEMPLATE BEGINS

SCC Tournament Registration History

2013-4 Season

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

2014-5 Season

Club Championship Swiss (5th tournament of the season) - 126 - peak registration for the season

Season average registration (for the 6 tournaments) - 117

2015-6 Season

Club Championship (5th tournament of the season) - 141! (1800+: 35; U 1800 - 106) - Peak for the season & the current RECORD for recent times!

Season average registration (for the 6 tournaments) - 131

2016-7 Season

Jack Frost Swiss (3rd Tournament of the season) - 139 - 1800+: 32; U 1800: 35; U 1400: 72. - Peak Registration for the season

Season Average Registration (for 6 tournaments): 133! (Highest Seasonal Average since keeping records here).

2017-8 Season

Howard Ridout Memorial Swiss (1st tournament of the season) - 130 (1800+: 27; U 1800: 46; U 1400: 57) - Peak Registration for the season.

Season Average Registration (for 6 tournaments): 122. Below the 2016-7 Season Average of 133.

2018-9 Season

Club Championship (5^th tournament of the season) – 137 (Championship - 31; Reserves - 106) – Peak registration of the season.

Season Average Registration (For 6 tournaments): 120 (Almost at the prior 2017-8 Season Average of 121; our historical high from a few years ago (2016-7) is 133).

2019-20 Season (Current)

# 1 – Howard Ridout Memorial: 122 ( 1800+ - 20; U 1800 – 52; U 1400 (Jrs. Only) – 19; U 1000 (Jrs. Only) - 31)

# 2 – Falling Leaves: 120 (1800+ - 18; U 1800 – 51; U 1400 (Jrs. Only) – 20; U 1000 (Jrs. Only) - 31) -

Season Average Registration (For 2 tournaments so far): 121 - above last season's average per tournament: 118.

Bob's Blog

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

i) on my personal Facebook Account for my over 900 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…), now owned by Henry Lam;
iii) occasionally on other chess websites, such as that of FQE (Province of Quebec's Chess Association). On the one occasion this was done, 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, under my own personal account - 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 (http://www.scarboroughchessclub.ca/).
iii) my Annex CC tournaments Fb blog to ACC's Fb Group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/172335039452033/).

Henry Lam (Aka Dark Knight on CT), the owner of CT, and I have now done a first renewal of our “Henry/Bob Blog Agreement” (Original agreement - summer of 2018). Under it I agreed to re-post my Fb Chess Blogs on CT for both my chess club official tournaments, subject to the condition that interest did not wane to such an extent that it was no longer worth making the effort to do the blog. This has now happened re the Annex CC blog, and I am therefore no longer blogging those club tournaments. I also agreed to blog my non-club weekend (Sometimes longer; sometimes shorter) tournaments, in which I play between Summer 2019 and Summer 2020. Henry and I have a clause for consideration of annual renewal.

So, under this new agreement, I am now re-posting my blogs of my current Scarborough CC tournaments. My future non-club weekend blogs, to and including Summer 2020, 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, or fail to play one that is intended):

The 2019 Hart House Holidays Open – Toronto (Dec. 13-15).
2. The 2020 Hart House Reading Week Open – Toronto (February 15-17).
3. The 2020 Canadian Open (July 16-22).
4. The 2020 Toronto Open (Sept. 5-7)

This year so far, I have managed to insert one additional tournament into the Fall – The Canadian International Open – Longueuil, Quebec (Oct. 11-3, 2019).

The Blog Focus

I mainly focus on the section I am playing in (Has been U 2000, U 1900, U 1800 or U 1700). 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 (Players 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 sometimes cover (Bare Bones) the top section standings; but I have to have been able to get the results before the Blog goes to press. For this section, of course, including 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 during the day of club tournaments, and before and between rounds for weekend tournaments (A bit of a reality show - bits of my personal, though generally pretty ordinary, life).

I know many other chess players approach tournaments quite differently than I do (E.g. - study, research opponents to prepare for them, etc.!). So one cannot generalize from what I do, to what other chess tournament players do.

Blog Feedback

I have had generally positive feedback on my blogging (I have done it for many, many years now, as some long-suffering viewers know), 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 all these years (I'm now working on year 75 (Not of blogging! LOL) – I do hope, as long as there is interest, to keep doing my blogs for many years yet).

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!

TEMPLATE ENDS

Bob A

**Bob Armstrong** · Friday, 24th January, 2020, 07:34 AM

Scarborough Chess Club Jack Frost Swiss – Blog

Rd. 3 – 20/1/23 (Thursday)

Bob's Chess Blog # 3 [Part I of 4 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: Jack Frost Swiss (# 3 of the 2019-20 Season)

When: January 9 – Feb. 13.

Format: 6 - round swiss

Sections: 4: The regular SCC Swisses have 4 sections 1800+; U 1800; U 1400 – Jrs. Only; U 1000 – Juniors Only [playing up within 100 pts. allowed – free].

Notes re sections:

The Club Championship has only 2 sections: Championship; Reserves.
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.

Registration: 112 (1800+ - 19; U 1800 – 47; U 1400 (Jrs. Only) – 14; U 1000 (Jrs. Only) - 32) – below this season's average per tournament (So far): 121.

Time Control: Top Section: G/60 + 30 sec. (From move 1)

- Bottom 3 sections: G/70 + 15 sec. (From move 1).

Rating: a. All sections are CFC-rated.

b. The top section is also FIDE rated.

Playing Up: Players within 100 pts. of the floor of the section above have the option to play in their section, or, in the next section up – no fee.

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, called The REAL News, is re-posted a few other places - so references here refer to this Fb platform.
The Day of Rd. 3 (Jan. 23)

Thursday Morning

Today I am currently living in Toronto, Ontario, and so am able to play. When I am living in my two other locations (Ontario hobby farm; Montreal, Quebec), I take byes/withdraw.

I awoke at 5:00 AM, with the alarm; I had gone to bed at 11:00 PM on Wednesday – a fairly normal length of sleep for me (But often during weekend tournaments I sleep much shorter, and get substantially less than my usual sleep).

My wife and I had breakfast. After breakfast, at 6:10 AM, we headed out to walk to our new gym, where we got a membership at the end of 2019. It takes us now about 20 min.

I had to wrap up my workout in order to leave at 7:00 AM to walk to my regular Bul**hit Coffee Club (BCC). Because of our gym program at the moment, I am now attending BCC just once per week. My wife continued working out a bit longer, before she headed home to do some cooking.

Today at BCC were the 4 regulars (Helen, Linda, Joe and John # 1) & me. We covered a lot of topics, such at the USA Impeachment, bugs and insects at summer cottages and when camping in the summer, some of the club member's Toronto family businesses in earlier generations, etc.

John # 1 left (He doesn't go bowling anymore), and at 9:00 AM, John # 2 showed up for his one-time per week, to go bowling with Linda. He raised the issue of life insurance and we discussed what we knew about that for a while. Everyone broke up about 9:20 AM.

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 before the template if there are any revisions you won't have read previously).

TEMPLATE BEGINS

BCC Historical Note

The BCC is held in one of my favourite local coffee shops, La Patisserie de Cigogne (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!

TEMPLATE ENDS

Back to Thursday Morning

I got home, and my wife had destroyed the kitchen, cooking a big pot of something. So I took over while she went to relax and read. I straightened the kitchen, got some things out of the chocked-full freezer, and washed up the dishes.

My adult daughter then phoned and said she was in the neighbourhood later in the day, and she'd drop in for a visit. She is in Toronto so she can attend 2^nd year osteopathy at the academy in Hamilton, Ontario, a somewhat close commute from Toronto; she is sharing an apartment with a close friend of the family.

I then grabbed a coffee and went upstairs to my home office to start on my normal daily routine in front of the old laptop.

Before launching into my normal daily routine, I started drafting this Blog # 3. I usually begin to draft my SCC Blog the day before (on Wednesday) - I sort of add to it as I go through the day (Thursday - today), and then try to finalize it and post it in the wee hours of Friday morning. We often go to our hobby farm early on Friday morning, so I usually like to get the blog finished before I go to sleep if possible (Our farm is an almost internet/computer-free zone, so I cannot finish and post it there). If I have to leave for the farm Friday morning, I get up early enough to get it posted before we have to go.

But I didn't get it started on Wednesday, and so I had to start it this morning.

I then finally went into my regular routine (See below).

TEMPLATE BEGINS

Victim of Routine

I am retired + unemployed – life is quite fine overall - except for my slave-driver company, The REAL News.ca Cooperative [Quite a mouthful, but simply put: TRN], where I must volunteer my work time for free all day long, 24/7! I have created a monster!

My mornings tend to be pretty scripted – who isn't a victim of routine?

So I settled in to my comfy home office and got working.

[Parts II, III & IV below]

Bob A

**Bob Armstrong** · Friday, 24th January, 2020, 07:38 AM

Scarborough Chess Club Jack Frost Swiss – Blog

Rd. 3 – 20/1/23 (Thursday)

Bob's Chess Blog # 3 [Part II of 4 parts; see Part I above]

My Daily Personal Project Tasks

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

2. Check new posts/comments on ChessTalk (CT).

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 re-post the most relevant...see below.
Check my Fb “Notifications” of my friends posts on their timelines, sometimes their timelines directly, and my own newsfeed of friends' posts to see the most relevant that I can “share” to my projects or re-post...see below.
Fb Project # 1 (My Company/Personal Fb Account) - My little company (In the process of being legally incorporated, after only being formed in Dec., 2019, as a federal unregistered sole proprietorship) is called, as said above, The REAL News.ca Cooperative (TRN). This Fb account is a news of the universe (world events/politics, human health & diet, Science & Technology, Entertainment, etc.) discussion group that I have created here on my own personal Fb account. Those posting/reacting, such that their names appear on the site, are a group we call PEERS (A Discussion Club of Equals) – the PEERS' members, along with TRN, do the news re-broadcasting.

So I update my Fb personal account, managed by my company, re-broadcasting news found elsewhere, and from time to time, other PEERS' members post as well.

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

7. Fb Project # 2 (2^nd company page - Canadian Life Consulting (CLC) - https://www.facebook.com/Canadian-Life-Consulting-16406543…/. , adminstered by my federal unregistered sole proprietorship company, Canadian Life Consulting Cooperative (CLCC). I do news re-posts from the sites mentioned above that are specifically relevant to this page.
8. 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.
9. Fb Project # 3 (On behalf of a religious community I am forming) - When I find them, I share religious (All Religions) posts to my religious community's Fb Page, Theist Community (https://www.facebook.com/Theist-Comm...dmin_todo_tour). Sometimes these re-posts also appear in TRN.

10. Update the discussion group formed under my community's page. It is called Spiritual/Religions Discussion Club (Or SRDC) - https://www.facebook.com/groups/2042495809374373/. I update it by sharing some more discussable of the posts now on the Theist Community page.

11. Fb Project # 4 (On behalf of a political party I would like formed) – Democratic Marxist – Global – https://www.facebook.com/Democratic-...dmin_todo_tour.

12. Update the discussion group formed under the political party page. It is called Democratic Marxist Global Forum – https://www.facebook.com/groups/2045...=nf&__tn__=C-R. I update it by sharing some more discussable of the posts now on the DMG page. Some of these posts are shared to TRN.

13. I have another retiree project besides my 4 Facebook Projects.

Chess is a passionate hobby of mine, as you know. It is part of what I call my “Interlude Living”. 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 3 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

TEMPLATE ENDSContinuing in the Home Office

I now used my 35/25 system.

“Working for the family” tasks were to get out the compost and recycles for Fri. AM pick-up. I also now had to replace two lights in our kitchen track lighting ......this is a real problem. I've found it impossible to get these little lights out of the glass shade which is so close to the light, there is no room to work. Once I got our contractor neighbour over to help me, and he broke the one light shade trying to do the change-over. Anyway, I got the indoors little ladder, and with fear and trepidation, somewhat resigned to failure, I went up to the lights.

My wife didn't want to hear all the swearing and cursing so she head downstairs to her pottery studio (She is an amateur potter, and in the basement she has her potting wheel, the kiln, reclaiming board, etc.

The first thing I found out was that one of the burned out lights, was the one with the broken shade......so it was a piece of cake getting it out. But the other burned out one was quite a battle....but, unbelievably, I actually got it out.......the first time ever in all my tries!! Definitely a good omen for my coming chess battle tonight.

I then had to go find my replacement bulbs in the basement. I found them easily, and realized that I had a larger bulb to replace the burned out light in the basement stairs landing. So I knocked off that task that had been on my list for a long time.

Lunch

Before I could replace the kitchen lights, at 12:30 PM my daughter showed. My wife had been cooking some chili earlier this morning, and so we all sat down and had lunch together.

After lunch I replaced the new bulbs in the kitchen track lighting. But, again, the one with the shade took some time for me to get it to just the right position to be pushed in.

Like......I've justified my existence today! Hooray! Been on my “To-Do” list forever. I can do nothing for the rest of the day, and not feel in the least bit guilty....today is a WINNER!!

Then I went back to “time for my own stuff”, and so I ordered my orthotics! This has been on the list for a week now......I'm on a roll!

My daughter had to make some calls, and she had thought our chargers fit her phone, but they didn't. So, for some reason, she said she might have to return to her apartment (Maybe to charge her phone so she could take it to work with her?).

My wife was exhausted, and so she lay down on the couch in the living-room.

I then helped my daughter with a couple of her financial arrangements. Then she hunkered down on the dining room table to finish a major paper she had that was due imminently. She was going to work here for a while and then see if she'd stay the night and continue to work, or go home.

Then I had a few financial matters I had to deal with and had some e-mailing back and forth with our accountants.

[Parts III & IV below]

Bob A

**Bob Armstrong** · Friday, 24th January, 2020, 07:42 AM

Scarborough Chess Club Jack Frost Swiss – Blog

Rd. 3 – 20/1/23 (Thursday)

Bob's Chess Blog # 3 [Part III of 4 parts; see Parts I & II above]

Siesta

Given that I usually sleep short compared to many in the early morning (night), and that I am working on year number 75 this year, I have found that the European/Latin American practice of a siesta time in mid-afternoon works really well (I usually set the alarm and do not sleep more than 1 hour). My wife, because of her health, also is usually tired by then, as today. We take the landline phone off the hook and shut off cell phones – drives the family and friends nuts, but they've adjusted.

By 3:15 PM, I found I also was tired (Is it the up at 5:00 AM??). So I also took a 1 hr. nap.

The Late Afternoon

I got up with the alarm. I went back to continuing this Blog # 3, and tended to my routine personal tasks.

Heading Out for Rd. 3

I then went to prepare my stuff to go to SCC. I went to print out the Rd. 2 cross-tables – I use them to record myself the top results in my section, for this Blog # 3 – but they had not yet been posted. So I'll have to get the pairings team at the hall to do a set for me from their pairings computer. I also prepared my materials for the SCC Display Table (I do this as a member volunteer job).

At 5:20 PM I headed out by car for SCC.

I went to my Timmies at Ellesmere and Brimley Ave. I got the needed caffeine to go into battle and worked for a while on updating my “Reminder Book” (I have a worse than normal terrible memory) and my “Organizer”. At 7:00 PM I drove back to the club (about 5 min. drive away).

Pre-Round 3

I got in and set up the whole display table, and put out the cross-tables. I then went and asked our pairings person, Guy Hulbert, if he could do me a set of cross-tables after he'd finished with tonight's pairings – he said time was tight but he'd see what he could do. I was a bit tired, and so decided to just go out in the hall and pace for a while. Dave Southam came in, and came down to chat briefly and commisserate, since we had talked at Annex CC about how bad we were both starting this chess decade – I had 3 losses in 4 games, and Dave had 4 losses in 5 games. Then Alex Mates and I chatted briefly about our wild game the week before. Then Salvino Mesiti (My section) inquired what I knew about the upcoming Hart House Reading Week Open – there was a technical issue outstanding that had stopped HH from being to advertise yet. Then Guy brought me a copy of the cross-tables and I set them out on the display table.

Round 3

The round started right on time. It is an interesting game, though both of us made errors. The game is below.

Post Rd. 3

After the game I watched the rest of the games, until I had the leaders for all sections. I chatted briefly with Toy Kwan (My section) about the upcoming Hart House tournament. Toy was pleased he now had his rating up over 1500, and so he would now be able to play up a section at the HHRWO.

After the last game of the top section was adjudicated, I packed up my display table stuff and headed for home at 10:45 PM. Going home I can use the Don Valley Parkway – with little traffic at this time of night, I make it home in about 20 min.! My best time getting to SCC/Tim's at rush hour, when I can't use the Don Valley, is 40 min.

The Later Evening

I got home shortly after 11:00 PM, and my wife had gone to bed; fighting a cold. My daughter was still up finishing her major osteopathy project (I think the deadline is to hand it in in Hamilton tomorrow?). I was hungry and had a bowl of cold cereal while she worked on the dining room table. We chatted a bit about how her husband plays chess and my game tonight.

So I then went upstairs and did a bit on my own projects on the laptop. But I was then too tired to enter my game and finish this Blog # 3, and left it to Friday.

I went to bed just before midnight Friday.

My U 1800 Section Report - Rd. 3- Thursday, Jan. 23/20.

I am rated 1597. I am in the 2nd of the 4 sections. My section rating spread is effectively, from the high1600's to about 1000. I am in the top third of the section.

Post-Rd. 3– U 1800 Leaders

There are 47 players in our section; but there were only 16 boards (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^nd – 3 pts. - Junior Boy Larry Yang (1692); Junior Boy Adam Li (1499).

3^rd/6^th – 2.5 pts. - Toy Kwan (1553); Junior Boy Michael Wang (1500); Junior Boy Daniel Yuan (1486); Junior Boy Richard Zhang (1441).

My Round 3 Game

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.

Chanoian, Ara (1426) – Armstrong, Robert (Bob) J. (1597) [E65]

Scarborough CC Jack Frost (U 1800) (3), 23.01.2020

[Armstrong, Robert (Bob) J.]

1.d4 g6 2.c4 Bg7 3.Nc3 Nf6 King's Indian Defence 4.g3 d6 5.Nf3 0–0 6.Bg2 c5 7.0–0 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Qb6 9.Ndb5 a6 10.Be3 Qa5 11.Nd4 Ng4 I decide I will sac a P to give Ara doubled, isolated eP's, and then win back my P, with, hopefully, an improved position. 12.Nd5 Ara takes up the challenge; he is adventurous. 12...Nxe3 13.Nxe7+ Ara goes up a P 13...Kh8 14.fxe3 Qd8 Have to protect my b7P on the exchange 15.Nd5 Unfortunately this N is a monster, and not easily exchanged now. 15...Nc6 16.Rb1 Ne5 17.Qb3 Rb8 18.e4 Bg4 I am now seeing that winning back one of the two eP's is not going to be so easy; I am now just down a P. 19.e3 Qg5 I felt I had to play aggressively since Ara had such a solid position. 20.Nf3 Nxf3+ 21.Bxf3 Be5 The e5B may be able to be sacrificed on g3 in a K-side attack. 22.Bxg4 Qxg4 23.Qc2 f5 Continuing to open the position up, hoping for some type of K-side attack. 24.exf5 gxf5 25.b3 Rf7 26.Rf2 Ara protects against the possible B-sac 26...Rg8 27.Rbf1 Rfg7 28.Rg2 Ara continues to defend 28...Rg5 29.Nf4 h5?? I miss something 30.h3 simple and effective; I had thought h3 was unplayable because the P would be unprotected; I missed that Nf4 now protected the h3 square; my Q is now trapped. 30...Qxg3 31.Rxg3 Rxg3+ Ara is now up Q vs R. 32.Kh2 Rxe3 33.Qxf5 Rgg3 34.Ng6+?? Ara makes a mistake. 34...Rxg6+ I now have R + B vs Q (May be holdable if I can build a defensive fortress). 35.Kh1 Reg3 36.Qf8+ Kh7 37.Qf7+ Kh6 38.Qf8+ Kg5 39.Rg1 try to exchange off pieces when ahead 39...Rxg1+ 40.Kxg1 Kh4+ 41.Kf1 Kxh3 I now have R + B + P (Passed) vs Q. I am improving my position. 42.Qf5+ Rg4 43.Qxh5+ I now have R + B vs Q; can I hold the draw? Ara had 5 min. left, and I had 13 min. 43...Kg3 44.Ke2 Re4+ 45.Kd3 Rd4+ 46.Kc2 Bf4 47.Qg6+ Kf2 48.Qf7 b5 49.cxb5 axb5 50.Kc3 Ke3 51.Qe6+ Be5 52.Qh3+ Ke4 53.Kc2 Kd5 Back into my little fortress. 54.Qf3+ Kc5 55.a3 Kb6 56.Qe3 Kc5 57.Qc3+ I had been waiting for this blunder 57...Rc4 this was not such an easy move to see. 58.bxc4 Bxc3 I have a won game; I am up a B. 59.cxb5 Ba5

0–1

My Score

2/3 pts. - Wins: 2 (Rds. 2 & 3); Loss: 1 (Rd. 1).

My Opponents' & My Scores

2/3 pts. - Me (1597)

1/3 pts. - Ara Chanoian (1426) – I won in Rd. 3.

1/2- Junior Boy Ryan Zhong (1330) – I lost in Rd. 1 (Forgot to check his rd. 3 result).

0/2 pts. - Alex Mates (1268) – I won in Rd. 2 (Forgot to check his rd. 3 result).

Other Sections' Leaders

1800 +

1^st/2^nd – 2.5 pts. - Junior Boy Raymond Gao (2042); Junior Boy Jonathan Hay (2007);

2^nd/7^th– 2 pts. - Junior Boy Fengxi Mao (2246); David Lawless (2035); Junior Boy Edward Xiao (1855); Armand Mendoza (1845); Junior Boy Richard Huang (1834).

U 1400 Juniors

1^st– 3 pts. -Junior Girl Mathusha Jeyakumar (990).

2^nd/5^th– 2 pts. - Daniel Odoemelan (1341); Andrew Li (1104); Daniel Esson (1096); Percy Xing (970).

iii U 1000 Juniors

1^st/2^nd– 3 pts. - Joey Zhang (889); Aidan Ramdyal (497).

3^rd/4^th – 2.5 pts. - Sunny Zhang (968); Alex Mou (799).
Top Section 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!

[ Part IV Below]

Bob

**Bob Armstrong** · Friday, 24th January, 2020, 07:45 AM

Scarborough Chess Club Jack Frost Swiss – Blog

Rd. 3 – 20/1/23 (Thursday)

Bob's Chess Blog # 3 [Part IV of 4 parts; see Parts I, II & III above]

Top Section 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!

Some History

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

These next 2 sections are another template.

TEMPLATE BEGINS

SCC Tournament Registration History

2013-4 Season

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

2014-5 Season

Club Championship Swiss (5th tournament of the season) - 126 - peak registration for the season

Season average registration (for the 6 tournaments) - 117

2015-6 Season

Club Championship (5th tournament of the season) - 141! (1800+: 35; U 1800 - 106) - Peak for the season & the current RECORD for recent times!

Season average registration (for the 6 tournaments) - 131

2016-7 Season

Jack Frost Swiss (3rd Tournament of the season) - 139 - 1800+: 32; U 1800: 35; U 1400: 72. - Peak Registration for the season

Season Average Registration (for 6 tournaments): 133! (Highest Seasonal Average since keeping records here).

2017-8 Season

Howard Ridout Memorial Swiss (1st tournament of the season) - 130 (1800+: 27; U 1800: 46; U 1400: 57) - Peak Registration for the season.

Season Average Registration (for 6 tournaments): 122. Below the 2016-7 Season Average of 133.

2018-9 Season

Club Championship (5^th tournament of the season) – 137 (Championship - 31; Reserves - 106) – Peak registration of the season.

Season Average Registration (For 6 tournaments): 120 (Almost at the prior 2017-8 Season Average of 121; our historical high from a few years ago (2016-7) is 133).

2019-20 Season (Current)

# 1 – Howard Ridout Memorial: 122 ( 1800+ - 20; U 1800 – 52; U 1400 (Jrs. Only) – 19; U 1000 (Jrs. Only) - 31)

# 2 – Falling Leaves: 120 (1800+ - 18; U 1800 – 51; U 1400 (Jrs. Only) – 20; U 1000 (Jrs. Only) - 31) -

Season Average Registration (For 2 tournaments so far): 121 - above last season's average per tournament: 118.

Bob's Blog

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

i) on my personal Facebook Account for my over 900 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…), now owned by Henry Lam;
iii) occasionally on other chess websites, such as that of FQE (Province of Quebec's Chess Association). On the one occasion this was done, 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, under my own personal account - 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 (http://www.scarboroughchessclub.ca/).
iii) my Annex CC tournaments Fb blog to ACC's Fb Group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/172335039452033/).

Henry Lam (Aka Dark Knight on CT), the owner of CT, and I have now done a first renewal of our “Henry/Bob Blog Agreement” (Original agreement - summer of 2018). Under it I agreed to re-post my Fb Chess Blogs on CT for both my chess club official tournaments, subject to the condition that interest did not wane to such an extent that it was no longer worth making the effort to do the blog. This has now happened re the Annex CC blog, and I am therefore no longer blogging those club tournaments. I also agreed to blog my non-club weekend (Sometimes longer; sometimes shorter) tournaments, in which I play between Summer 2019 and Summer 2020. Henry and I have a clause for consideration of annual renewal.

So, under this new agreement, I am now re-posting my blogs of my current Scarborough CC tournaments. My future non-club weekend blogs, to and including Summer 2020, 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, or fail to play one that is intended):

The 2019 Hart House Holidays Open – Toronto (Dec. 13-15).
2. The 2020 Hart House Reading Week Open – Toronto (February 15-17).
3. The 2020 Canadian Open (July 16-22).
4. The 2020 Toronto Open (Sept. 5-7)

This year so far, I have managed to insert one additional tournament into the Fall – The Canadian International Open – Longueuil, Quebec (Oct. 11-3, 2019).

The Blog Focus

I mainly focus on the section I am playing in (Has been U 2000, U 1900, U 1800 or U 1700). 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 (Players 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 sometimes cover (Bare Bones) the top section standings; but I have to have been able to get the results before the Blog goes to press. For this section, of course, including 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 during the day of club tournaments, and before and between rounds for weekend tournaments (A bit of a reality show - bits of my personal, though generally pretty ordinary, life).

I know many other chess players approach tournaments quite differently than I do (E.g. - study, research opponents to prepare for them, etc.!). So one cannot generalize from what I do, to what other chess tournament players do.

Blog Feedback

I have had generally positive feedback on my blogging (I have done it for many, many years now, as some long-suffering viewers know), 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 all these years (I'm now working on year 75 (Not of blogging! LOL) – I do hope, as long as there is interest, to keep doing my blogs for many years yet).

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!

TEMPLATE ENDS

Bob A

Scarborough Chess Club Jack Frost Swiss (Jan. 9 - Feb. 13, 2020) – Blog

Scarborough Chess Club Jack Frost Swiss (Jan. 9 - Feb. 13, 2020) – Blog

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