I can't believe the news - it was a real shock to me. Bobby Fischer is one of those people who, although was rarely in the news, you just think is always going to be around. As John put it "it's the end of an era".
Link
Friday 18 January 2008
Thursday 17 January 2008
CCF v Wimbledon
Last night John and I played for the 6th team at CCF. I think that the whole team were outgraded on every board. John played a 130 player , 29 points above his grade, whilst I played a 118, 35 points above my grade. John, and the team, unfortunately lost. John tried a rook for knight sacrifice to blast his opponent's king open, it didn't work! I, however, managed to win. It was a strange opening and I was out of theory almost from the start. As we headed into the middle game I won a pawn, then, a little later on another one. Then a rook for a bishop. I should have felt confident then, but my opponent had a nasty attack on. He sacked his knight and if I had taken back in what appeared to be a logical way, either with my bishop or queen, I'm sure that mate would have ensued in the next few moves. Instead, I took back with the g pawn, opening my king up, but managing to side-step the worst of the attack and we finally went into the endgame with me a rook up.
Wednesday 16 January 2008
Painted Coffin
Yesterday was our second funeral in a week! Very different from my uncle's, but still moving. The coffin was beautiful - pale yellow (Iris's favourite colour) with a border of painted irises and daffodils (her favourite flower) round the sides and a painted spray of irises on the lid. I've never seen a painted coffin before and it really did reflect the person who had died. It got John and me talking about what we would want painted on our coffins - not as morbid as it sounds.
Monday 14 January 2008
Brighouse and Rastrick
Saturday saw us running the bookstall at CCF and playing in their 6-round rapidplay. John was second in the U100 section, whilst I only scored 50%. It was strange getting back to playing rapidplay after so long - don't think I've played any for about 6 months or more. I definately played the first round too fast, but did manage to slow down after that.
In the evening we were taken out by my parents to see the Brighouse and Rastrick Band at the Hawth in Crawley. An excellent evening with a wide variety of music played. Yes, for those who remember, they did encore with the Floral Dance. Their rendition of The Bare Necessities was brilliant, with lots of humour from the bass horn soloist. I found the two more technical pieces a little difficult to take in, but could really appreciate how difficult these were to play.
In the evening we were taken out by my parents to see the Brighouse and Rastrick Band at the Hawth in Crawley. An excellent evening with a wide variety of music played. Yes, for those who remember, they did encore with the Floral Dance. Their rendition of The Bare Necessities was brilliant, with lots of humour from the bass horn soloist. I found the two more technical pieces a little difficult to take in, but could really appreciate how difficult these were to play.
Friday 11 January 2008
Return to Leicester
Yesterday was my birthday. It was also my uncle's funeral. So, we went back to the town of my birth, Leicester. Yes, we did view the body. It was a strange experience, he had been embalmed because of the long wait between his death and the funeral (he died just before Christmas) and seemed more like a wax-work model than a human being.
We had lunch at the Walker's Stadium, built on the site of the old power station. Another interesting experience. My father and grandfather had both worked at the power station and I was taken there to be shown off at 10 days old. Now it's Leicester City's home ground, yes I do support them, but fortunately we also have a rugby team!
The funeral was extremely moving. At the gathering afterwards it was a chance to meet up with family and friends who I hadn't seen for many years. One conversation involved my mother's youngest bridesmaid, to whom I had been bridesmaid, myself, and the mother of my youngest bridesmaid.
We had lunch at the Walker's Stadium, built on the site of the old power station. Another interesting experience. My father and grandfather had both worked at the power station and I was taken there to be shown off at 10 days old. Now it's Leicester City's home ground, yes I do support them, but fortunately we also have a rugby team!
The funeral was extremely moving. At the gathering afterwards it was a chance to meet up with family and friends who I hadn't seen for many years. One conversation involved my mother's youngest bridesmaid, to whom I had been bridesmaid, myself, and the mother of my youngest bridesmaid.
Wednesday 9 January 2008
CCF v Ashtead
Another day, another game of chess. Last night saw us playing in a match, against Ashtead, in the Lauder Cup. My opponent was a rapidly improving junior graded 15 points ahead of me, and I was black. That's my reason for losing anyway! I need to look at that game as I am sure that at one point I had a good position, but wrecked it my overextending. The good news is that CCF won the match, so we all went home happy.
Tuesday 8 January 2008
CCF SuperLeague
First day back from Hastings and we were again playing chess - Monday is our club night. CCF is a very active club and last night was SuperLeague - a team event for teams of four drawn from squads of up to six. There is a maximum number of grading points that can be used over the course of the seven games, so it makes for an interesting time, especially if you are a captain. Our team is sitting near the bottom of the first division (there are two divisions) so a win would have been good. Unfortunately we only managed a draw, but I was pleased to win on the bottom board. John plays for a team further up the table, he unfortunately lost and was not a happy bunny!
Monday 7 January 2008
New Year
So, it's now 2008 and the New Year saw us on our way to Hastings. I'd never played there until I met John, now I wouldn't miss it. The original idea was that we both played in the New Year tournament, then I played at the weekend and John joined the arbiting team. On arrival, it turned out that there was an arbiter short at the weekend, so I agreed to join the team too.
First round, I won and John lost. Second round, I played one of the two top seeds and drew (John was the other top seed and he won his second game). In round three, John won again whilst I lost. Then, round four, I missed a win and managed to draw. John won again! Final round, a win would give John first, or at least a share of it, whilst a draw would give him a share of second or third and his opponent a guaranteed win. Despite John's best efforts, they drew. I, however, had an upfloat against a player I had never beaten before. My job was to win or draw, so that there would be fewer sharing John's prize. It was an interesting game with opposite side castling and lots of threats (some real, some imagined). I was offered a draw, and turned it down. I just felt that I could win it - not sure why, just a feeling. We went into an ending with me a pawn up, but I had to sack my rook for his past pawn. That left me with two passed pawns against his rook. Fortunately the pawns were well advances and once they both arrived on the seventh rank my opponent resigned. For once I was right to turn down the draw, John was joint second and I got a share of the grading prize. A successful few days.
First round, I won and John lost. Second round, I played one of the two top seeds and drew (John was the other top seed and he won his second game). In round three, John won again whilst I lost. Then, round four, I missed a win and managed to draw. John won again! Final round, a win would give John first, or at least a share of it, whilst a draw would give him a share of second or third and his opponent a guaranteed win. Despite John's best efforts, they drew. I, however, had an upfloat against a player I had never beaten before. My job was to win or draw, so that there would be fewer sharing John's prize. It was an interesting game with opposite side castling and lots of threats (some real, some imagined). I was offered a draw, and turned it down. I just felt that I could win it - not sure why, just a feeling. We went into an ending with me a pawn up, but I had to sack my rook for his past pawn. That left me with two passed pawns against his rook. Fortunately the pawns were well advances and once they both arrived on the seventh rank my opponent resigned. For once I was right to turn down the draw, John was joint second and I got a share of the grading prize. A successful few days.
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