Chess

I scored 3.5 out of the 9 Rounds of Chess in Cardiff. Two of my opponents were in the stratosphere of my Rated Opposition, so with those games aside, I managed 3.5 out of 7 from the remainder. This included 5 draws, 4 of these were in a row, which is the longest run of draws that I have ever had when playing over the board chess. My tournament result was not great, but the outcome is lovely. 

I enjoyed the games, and enjoyed the week away.

NATO

Is it wrong to write about the NATO Summit being held in South Wales? We can't afford a holiday this year and are staying in Cardiff after a kind relative offered to lend us their place in the City while they are away. So with the support of my good friend Adam, I am chancing my arm at the South Wales International Open Chess Tournament. A six day chess extravaganza held in the centre of our Capital. 

Although at the moment it is not the vibrant cosmopolitan city that I know; not with all of this security fencing and vehicle barricades dotted about everywhere.  You can't even escape the intrusion when strolling or jogging through what is normally the lovely Bute Park. Nope, for the last five days, I have felt quite intimidated and feel as if I am in the Middle East rather than in South Wales. The worst part is, I thought that the NATO thingy was taking place in Newport.  Gwent get the Summit, but South Wales get the expense. And what's this 'working lunch' malarky? I've dined in the Castle many years ago, and with that standard of quisine, there's not going to be that much working going on.  Unlike me at the chess board, slogging it out for a few hours at a time.

To be quite honest, if it wasn't for Adam, it's highly unlikely that I would be here at all. Well yes, I would be here drinking coffee and strolling around, but not playing chess. You see, the aforementioned friend sort of acts like my 'second'. Of course it is quite unheard of for a club level chess player like me to have a 'second', but the support is essential with my mental ill health. 

Adam researches chess ideas and themes, researches my opponents and preps me as to what chess opening to expect, and then analyses each of my chess games in detail following each round. I wake up in the flat to a ping on my mobile phone, and that is a text or email from Adam informing me who I am due to playing etc., Following the game I photograph my chess scoresheet and then email it to Adam for analysis. We also met up several times prior to my jaunt to the fenced off City. So while other people do a lot of work, I just have a lot of fun, and the pressure valve folks is wide open. 

So thank you Adam, because you are helping me to live my dream, but bugger off NATO because you are making me feel vulnerable and intimidated. 

Next time, please host your Summit out on a ship or away in the countryside. 

Oh the chess, how is it going you ask? Well I lost in Round 1 to an International Master (so no surprise there then) and somehow drew the next four games. Part of this unusual string of draws, is risk aversion, and of course lack of confidence. The other part must be down to my aims and objectives, the primary one being enjoyment. I mustn't care about the result, but I must ensure that I do enjoy playing.

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.

Mr. Tister

I asked Mr. Tister AKA 'Loverboy' AKA our Grandson for some Chess playing advice in my game against Jeffers. Well, I had to ask Justin as I was struggling against Jeffers. The only thing is, could Jeffers see the same complexities in the game as it developed, or were the Demons mine alone? He's only 19 months, Justin Bennett that is and not Jeffers. So I had to interpret his explanation as the spoken language is a tad garbled. My intrepation of the analysis undertaken by Mr. Tister is somewhat strange. "Hide your King amongst the pawns, get his King and squeeze it in your hand and Pawns taste yummy". Thanks, Mr. Tister very useful indeed. I shall endeavour to get Jeffers King and consider the pawn advice the next time I am knocking up lunch for the family.

The Library

One of the good points regarding retirement; is that I can chose to write what I want and when I want.

I have written about choices previously in the Blog. Having to make a choice is in many ways about overcoming the road signs that shape our direction of travel through life. Sometimes we need help in making these decisions. That help can be through the ever present social network that exists in the workplace. Alternatively or probably simultaneously, it is partly a reliance on those who we regard as friends. Friend and family networks often listen and dispense meaningful advice, and although such advice in often invaluable, our choices are also supported by what we have learnt.

This life long learning is gained either through exposure to events that lead to solutions being gained the hard way, or by studying material or behaviours that inform us about a particular topic, or area of interested.

I have a significant chess library which was invaluable for club and tournament play during my informative years as a teenager and on into adulthood. I have several books on the Marshall Attack, a copy of BCO and BCO2 which must be the definitive the linchpin of all chess players learning. That is, weak chess players who rely on set moves to take them from the opening into the middle game. I also have an array of Endgame books and was proud of the manner in which I could conduct an endgame. The problem was reaching that stage of the game, as all too often than not, my open play led to a piece sacrifice here or there. Although amongst all of these books there is only one publication that deserves a place in my bookcase. The book in question is a well read, old ragged copy of Nimzowitsch ‘My System’. Nimzowitsch is as informative to the chess world as Sun Tzu is to Strategic thoughts and thinkers. Unlike ‘My system’ of which I have only one copy, I have four copies of Sun Tzu’s, Art of War. Each of these copies is different, and they do not include Mao’s Treatise; whereby Sun Tzu’s words and phases were remoulded, but actually said the same thing. So in reality I have five copies of the great book in its various forms. I feel like Mel Gibson in ‘Conspiracy Theory’, you know, where he has an urge to keep buying 'The Catcher in the Rye'. Although my earnings pale into insignificance compared to those of the great Mr. Gibson. My understanding of Chess and Strategy also pale into insignificance compared to Sun Tzu and Nimzowitsch.

The down side for the ‘Art of War’ is that it is often misquoted by those who have attended a short managerial course and skimmed a few pages. They quote the book, they quote a few choice phrases but they don’t actually understand the content. The same applies to ‘My System’, like all good books it is in many ways difficult to get to grips with. It is easier to put down, than to read in depth, especially if there is a BCO on the table. But if you persevere then the awards are truly great. Possibly there is a correlation between Nimzowitsch and Sun Tzu. Maybe reading to understand both books, could pay dividends in both the boardroom and on the chess board. They would certainly help you to make the choices that we are often faced with, and maybe, just maybe, get a few of them right.

Paradigm

It's paradoxical that I have followed the main elements expounded by Nimzowitsch, but yet with my extra space and pawn I am actually losing. To make matters worse it's still very cold in the UK, but thankfully this game is hotting up.

It's probably the hottest thing that I have been near for the last two days with freezing temperatures outside and not much warmth in our lounge at the moment. Mind you I did manage 30 lengths of the swimming pool this afternoon along with a Sauna. Oh, and coffee and meatballs with a good friend of mine in town. Not a lot of meatballs, but a lot of friend. Adam has a FIDE Chess Rating, but that didn't stop him freezing in the cold. I don't have a FIDE rating as I enjoyed the cut and thrust of open play too much. Which in simple terms meant that I really enjoyed my chess, but I lost almost as many games as I won and often against weak opposition against whom I could have slogged it out for a definite win, but at the cost of a very boring few hours. Nothing worse than a boring 6 hour game of chess.

Unlike the cold, which I don't enjoy at all. It bit into the skin, especially when we went shopping and back to the car. The cold was made worse in that my Bro sent me a £45 pair of gloves yesterday and in a made rush across town I left them in the boot. Now there's a logistical preparedness lesson if there ever was one. Well two lessons really; [1] remember your gloves, or [2] move to a warmer climate. I bet that it's quite warm in Accra at the moment, but not as warm as the position in the game between Roger from Wales and Jeffers from Ghana that began on the 6th January 2010.

Chess

RBA Bennett [Wales] Highest Past rating 2000 [Offered Rating for Interzonal in Ireland] (White) v J Adjei [Ghana] 1596 (Black)
Google Chess started 6 January 2010
Time Control: 1 move in up to 3 days
Rules: No books or Internet resources, no moving pieces other than executed moves
Kings Gambit Accepted
1. e4 e5
2. f4 exf4
3. Nf3 Nf6
4. e5 Nd5
5. Bc4 Nb6
6. Bb3 d6
7. O-O Nc6
8. exd6
To be continued
The Chess Set shown in the photograph consists of a triple weighted Match Play wooden chess set with felted bases turned in a Staunton Pattern with a King that is 9.8cm high. The pieces are stored in a velvet lined wooden box with a name plate bearing the owners name. During match play the pieces rest on a high quality Match Play wooden board consisting of 5.5cm squares. The board has a full felt underlay. This Match Play set and board only comes out on special occasions. The last time was in 1998. Playing Jeffers is special, and every time I move, I sip the red wine and raise a glass to 'absent friends'.