Defeated but not discouraged

[gurdonark]

Today I slept in a bit, not waking up until nearly 9. I worked for a bit on Trollope's The Duke's Children, which I have been edging through for a long, long time, while other things get read in the interim. I love Trollope, but The Duke's Children runs slowly for me. At least I get to spend more time with the pleasant Lady Mabel Grex, a character in whom chivalry, ennui and self-preservation mix in delightfully equal measure.

I had meant to get up and hike a bit this morning, but by the time I was active, I had to make a choice about how to spend my day. Choice A? The tour of the Winchester Mystery House, the 160+ room eccentric home built by a Winchester heir for decades, continually expanded to keep evil spirits away. Choice B? The Blackknight Chess Club chess tournament.
I did not have time to do both. Both particularly appealed to me, but I chose the chess tournament because the yahoo driving directions were easier to write down (I don't carry a printer when I travel).

I picked up some cash at the Bank of America in an Albertson's, noting with longing that whole, cooked turkeys were on sale for ten dollars. I had no need for a whole, cooked turkey but the idea somehow appealed to me.

I stopped at a Persian restaurant called Ya's, and had chicken served on a bed of rice leavened with large raisins, along with a nice lentil/vegetable soup. Then I headed over to the chess tournament, which proved to be in its own little "chess building" at a local high school.

The tournament format was "quad", which means that the players are divided into foursomes, and each player plays in a round robin in each quad. I got paired into a quad with one player rated 2130, and two players rated over 1950. My own rating is 1733 (Class B), so I would have to "play up". This is good for my chess education, but not always so good for my won/loss record. The expert and I played a spirited game, but I ultimately needlessly dropped material and lost the game. Against the first A player, I got greedy, grabbed a pawn prematurely, and then ended up a piece for 2 pawns down.

Then the third player forfeited his game to attend a belated Christmas party. I was disappointed by this, because I "came to play". But the tournament director, a nice guy, agreed to play me in a rated game. He was 8 points shy of being a master, and I did not fare well. But it was fun to play.

I'm eager to get back on a winning note again. My on-line chess is not bad, but needs work. My live chess is pretty predictable. I can beat players rated lower than I am, but I do not yet fare well against experts and A players. I'm not worried, though, because each time I play one I see the finite steps I need to take to improve. I hope that I can put the time in to get better. Even if I don't get better, though, I frankly had a lot of fun.

I got another contact about my 1/24 tournament. I am so hopeful that I can draw a small crowd. I am not yet optimistic, but I am feeling the first glimmers of hope.

I am glad I did what I did, but I wish I had gotten in more hiking and a visit to that mystery house. I'll visit this area again someday, though, if I am permitted to do so.

I do not really like being away from home on the weekend for business. But this weekend was as nice as it could be, given being away from home. Tomorrow morning I attend a court hearing, and then it is back to Texas. I can hardly wait to be home.

Comments

[poetbear.livejournal.com]

the Winchester House is amazing! she had strange features
built into it, too. it's really beautiful, but they will only
sell you pictures. the grounds are almost as impressive
as the house. She was her own little local industry for years.
if you get back there, see it, by all means. good luck with your
hearing.~paul

[gurdonark.livejournal.com]

I'll probably need to come back in the Spring, and I'll make sure I see that house is at all possible.

[poetbear.livejournal.com]

the grounds are much more impressive in the Spring.~paul

[cinderellaca.livejournal.com]

oh, I'm glad you had such a good time in the bay area this weekend! The weather was exceptionally nice for this time of year - normally it would be cooler and rainy.
The Winchester house is fun - though I haven't been there in many years. And if you like hiking, next time you come to northern California - take a day and go to Pinnacles. It's a pleasant place to hike, with trails for both the more experienced hiker and the less experienced (which would be me). Also, the drive to get there is lovely.

[gurdonark.livejournal.com]

I've never tried the Pinnacles. I'll mark that down for next trip.
I love hiking in this area, because there are so many great choices!

[blue-by-you.livejournal.com]

You write so well about chess that you have me wanting to know more, like:

1. Didn't it take hours and hours to play 4 games? Or were these timed with the little bells to ding?

2. How do you get your rating and who keeps the master list of all the ratings? Or is it sort of like golf?

3. Do you have to pay to enter these tournaments or do you just know when to show up and whoever gets there plays?

4. Do you read books about chess to get better?

[gurdonark.livejournal.com]

Thanks for asking.

1. Didn't it take hours and hours to play 4 games? Or were these timed with the little bells to ding?

The three games took about 6 hours, because each game was timed so that each player's clock had one hour of time on it at the start.
This is called Game/60. The clocks don't ding, but they are those 2 faced clocks, so that when one moves, one punches the clock,and one's opponent's clock runs. There's one good chess movie, Searching for Bobby Fischer, that shows tournament player fairlyl realistically (albeit among kid players).

Even Game/60, which is not a "slow" time limit, is far too slow for me. My chess tournament will be Game/10, which will mean that in less than 3 hours, we'll play an entire 6 round tournament. The accuracy of play drops at G/10 speed, but the fun increases.

2. How do you get your rating and who keeps the master list of all the ratings? Or is it sort of like golf?

They have a US Chess Federation (www.uschess.org) which keeps a master list and "rates" the games for each tournament. You get your rating by playing other rated players. After 25 games or so, you have a "permanent" rating, based on an average of your initial results (400+opponent's rating for a win, opponent's rating - 400 for a loss, etc.). Then, after your rating has gone permanent, the swings are less vivid. If you play an equal strength player, each of you has roughly 16 points on the line. Against a very strong player, you may stand to lose only 2 points, but s/he may stand to lose 32 points. So it's "calibrated" to give you more points against stronger players and less points if you beat players your rating says you should beat. It's a good system, developed by a scientist with the euphonious name Arpad Elo.

3. Do you have to pay to enter these tournaments or do you just know when to show up and whoever gets there plays?

You pay to enter those tournaments, and there are usually prizes, but my goal is to create a club with minimal entry fees. The main impediment thus far has been finding affordable meeting space. Cities now see their community centers as revenue makers, unfortunately.


4. Do you read books about chess to get better?

Yes, and I notice that when I really study, my chess improves.
I am pretty desultory right now, but I'm on the verge of really hitting the books.

[blue-by-you.livejournal.com]

Searching for Bobby Fischer was an excellent movie. The little I know about chess tournaments is from that movie. That's why I remembered the clock (although, more familiar with boxing, perhaps, I remembered them with a ding).

So, if you have a 10 minute game, I imagine most games do not end in checkmate? And if not, it's rated on a point system?

[gurdonark.livejournal.com]

Yes. Losing on time is just like losing by checkmate. They rate these quicker games on a different rating scheme, to prevent one's "regular" rating from being affected by these quick games.

[elkion.livejournal.com]

I wish that I could play chess. I don't usually play because I don't have any time or energy to invest in it. I only play chess with other people if they agree to discuss it with me throughout, kind of like a chess lesson. Chess is intriguing because it is so rich. It is worthy of a lifetime of learning.