Swotting

Well Friday came and went and no swotting occurred for the British Chess Championships Week 2 AM Open Competition. There was alas (and still is) lots of sweating with this heat wave currently engulfing Wales and the rest of the UK but no swatting. So here I am, feet up, watching the TV and wishing that I had the money to install an air conditioning system. It's times like this that I wish that I was on a long drive, because at least the car is cooler. 

Although I did pay a visit to the main playing area today, and I must say that the room appeared to be really cool. The Championship organisers had also put on lots of water. But even the cool water and the cool room wasn't as cool as the cool commentator in the Commentary Room.  Now he seemed to be shrouded in his own personal air conditioning system, and I must admit by the manner in which he commentated on the games; he had certainly done his swotting.

British Chess Championships

Well that's a strange but rather interesting turn around. Having been treated to the 'Chess Menu' at the Gwesty Cymru restaurant yesterday evening by our good friends Adam and Nia, I went and made the plunge and entered the Open tournament AM for Week 2 of the British Chess Championships. 

Now. Haven't played competitive chess since I had my first mental health breakdown in 1998. So the big question for me is quite simply: can I wrangle my way out of the opening five days on the trot next week?

Will I have to resort to 1. b4 the Polish opening when white, and some strange fianchetto when black? Or do I play 2. f4 irrespective of what my opponent plays, while revisiting the chess openings with some swatting on Sunday? Quite a lot to consider, and seeing that I need to avoid stress, it's quite likely that the plan won't be formed until Sunday night and very little or even 'no swatting' will actually occur. Meanwhile I look forward to relaxing tomorrow in this heat, running on Saturday, and doing very little on Sunday.

Welsh Parkruns, next the UK :-)

So that is Challenge No.1 to run all of the current 5k Parkrun's in Wales, completed. The next challenge will be to run one Parkrun in Wales (done), England (done), Scotland (TBA) and Ireland (TBA)

My BEST 5K TIMES for each Parkrun in WALES:

Aberystwyth Parkrun 31:01 (2014)
Pontypridd Parkrun 31:38 (2014)
Pontypool Parkrun 32:28 (2014)
Bryn Bach Parkrun 34:19 (2014)
Newport Parkrun 35:14 (2013)
Llyn Llech Owain Parkrun 35:25 (2014)
Cardiff Parkrun 35:28 (2013)
Colby Parkrun 36:48 (2014)
Porthcawl Parkrun 42:44 (2013)

Ps if you would like to sponsor me, then any money raised is shared between the British Heart Foundation, Tenovus, and the Firefighters Charity, unless you use my JustGiving link (www.justgiving.com/Roger-bennett1) at which point any money to the JustGiving page is donated straight to the British Heart Foundation

Oh Happy Days

My Preseli 'Beast Bach' trail race t-shirt has at long last arrived!  Oh happy days.  That was a tough run indeed, and it's great to now be able to wear my Beast Bach t-shirt with pride