But are the patients? I guess we’ll see!
I’m now (mostly) done with those pesky real-world commitments that kept me away from this blog for a while. This weekend I will play in my first chess tournament since May, the CalChess Labor Day Classic. This is northern California’s version of a state championship. Usually I enter the open section, but this year I decided to swallow my pride and enter the expert (under-2200) section. Why?
- I haven’t played or opened a chess book for the last month.
- I have to get real. Until I’m playing well and confident about my chess, I shouldn’t be playing against masters.
- The Western States Open in Reno is next month. That’s the tournament where I really want to play in the open section, because it’s FIDE-rated. One of my long-term projects is to get my FIDE rating back up to 2200.
- Did I mention that I’m not prepared?
- Oh, and I almost forgot — it’s a little easier to win prizes in the expert section than in the master section. That would be nice.
Interestingly, the last time I played in the expert section in this tournament, there were more class-A players than experts! That was the year I played against Nicholas Nip and had the somewhat discouraging experience of losing to an 8-year-old in front of a huge throng of people. Well, okay, maybe 10 or 15 people, but that feels like a huge throng when they’re all watching and rooting for you to lose. Now Nip is 10 years old and a master, so I won’t have to worry about playing him.
I will think positive, happy thoughts all weekend. For one thing, I will make sure to eat at least once at Tommy’s Joynt, which is the best restaurant I know of in San Francisco. It’s the only place where you can stuff your face with home-cooked-style comfort food for under $6. Tommy’s Joynt is almost the only thing I remember from my first visit to San Francisco in 1984, and it hasn’t changed a bit since then.
So, dear readers, what have you been doing for the last month? With no blog entries to read, I’m sure that you have had lots of spare time. Â 😎
Have any of you played any good games or tournaments recently, or gone on any interesting trips? I know that Andy Hortillosa has an announcement that he wants to make, so Andy, here is your chance.
