So now I’m at Wednesday, and it’s time for a Shameless Plug… In one month I’m going to be TDing my first adult event here in Bloomington. Another TD will be on the computer and I’ll be taking care of the floor.

Exciting! But I’m going to have to knuckle down now to settle some loose threads of the tourney, as well as begin my final review of the rulebook and rules supplements.

So, here’s the details as we’ve posted them at the Illinois Chess Association. (We submitted an online TLA at USCF as well, but I’ve still got to edit it for a couple of typos… !)

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Twin-City Chess Club April 2010 Open Quarterly Tournament.

Northbridge Baptist Church, 2413 Ziebarth Rd., Normal, IL 61761.

1 Open Section. 4 Rd Swiss, G/60 w/ 5 second delay.

EF: $20, $2 disc. to TCCC members.

Prize fund: 80% of EF’s.
1st 25%, 2nd 15%, A,B,C,D & Below: 10% each.
Top upset, top unrated: Book prize.
Players 18 and below are eligible for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place trophies in addition to overall/class prizes.

Registration: 9:15-9:50.

Rounds: 10:00, 12:30, 2:30, 4:30.

Half point bye available any round, Round 4 byes must be chosen before Round 3 starts.

Other information: Bring sets, clocks, boards – none supplied. Lunch may be purchased onsite. Email advance entries to chris.morgan@heartland.edu This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Include name, phone number, and USCF ID number.

NS, NC.

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See you there?

I’m publishing this tonight; next update maybe tomorrow live from Colley’s, or possibly Wednesday morning. But since it’s been more days than I’d like since I’ve posted, here it is.

Friday was a very hectic day at work, lots of stuff to do and then getting off early. (Got off early to go and prep for Saturday on Friday evening…)

Saturday it was working the computer room at the Colene Hoose elementary school tournament. Just didn’t have time to create a blog entry from the tournament room; doing other stuff in the lulls between entering results and pairing, plus picking up some good WinTD tricks.

Sunday was pretty much a rest day. Did some errands, laundry, and didn’t get to the most important bit. A little bit of chess, but not much. Which was OK on the Sabbath.

Then it was today. “Work” was attending a class on Advanced Excel for Power Users – which I loved! – and then tonight it was the usual Tri-City Chess Club night at Colley’s. Played two games, a casual game that I was clearly lost in before my opponent blundered. (Hey, I’ve been there, done that, got the t-shirt, burned it, and then been there all over again. Multiple times.)

Then I had a G/25 unrated game that I felt reasonably good to draw. I think I should’ve been able to convert it to a win, but I’ll take the draw. Maybe more on that later.

Lots of good conversation and camaraderie! Thus, it’s been a wonderful few days of enjoying my chess. Hope in the interim you’ve been able to

Enjoy your Chess!

Wish me luck!

As to tonight, I did stop by Colley’s. Weather was just too bad for me last night (hence the video blogpost.) Managed to lose three games, a G/5 blitz, a G/20 regular, and a “wild” variant against a very young player where I had nothing but pawns against a full array. (Which was good training drill for me on pawn structures and management…) I then ‘lost’ a race to set up the array.

For those new to chess, or parents out there, the “array” is the starting position of all pieces. It can be a fun drill to see how fast one can correctly set up the array with the pieces scattered. Not to mention a really good drill for if you ever have to set up ten or more boards as part of a scholastic. Every round during the last tournament I did inspect every board on conclusion of the round, and consistently found 1-3 boards with King-Queen reversed on one side Remember that the light square should be to each player’s right, and the Queens take their own color:

The Array In All Its Glory!

After that, Chris Morgan and I worked on the TLA and some details for the upcoming Tri-Cities Chess Club quarterly tournament we’re going to TD together. (April 10! Not in my upcoming tournaments reveiw, which I’ve been lousy at maintaining, but it is coming…. Posts to ICA and Chess Life Online TLA coming soon, and mark your calendars now!)

Enjoy your Chess!

I did by floor directing a couple of sections at our annual scholastic tournament. It was very enjoyable – especially as I was charged with the Junior High section, which is generally regarded as the easiest to direct. (And a Thanks “shout out” to Garrett Scott, Chris Merli, Jeff Smith, the Computer Room staff, the scorers and floor assistants, everyone else I missed, and our players!) When I get a chance, I may blog just a little about the whole thing as well as the kinds of rulings I was asked to make.

But I’ve got some plans for today, a rest day I have off. Not to mention a reload, as this next Saturday I am TDing at another scholastic. If I do get time to do things chesswise over my day off it will probably be setting up and recording another video of one of my games.

I am also really glad that I took today off as paid time off from work in addition to yesterday. At the Twin Cities Club last night at Colley’s, I don’t think any of us who were both there and at the tournament had a lot of energy for playing.

Then again, Tuesday night at Colley’s. More playing opportunity! Today will still be a day to enjoy my chess. Hope that you also

Enjoy your Chess!

I absolutely love running the computer. And, aside from a recording error that happened on the floor in one round and some people who failed to register their teams or registered the wrong team, I think I had an error-free run.

This is what I want to do as a TD. (Though eventually I would like to floor direct, also, just for the experience.)

More later. Bed now.