viewLast night's sleep wasn't as good as I'd hoped. Two insomnia breaks of moderate length broke up what otherwise would have been seven hours of head on pillow. Still, I woke moderately rested and didn't have to wait too very long for the morning fog to lift from my mind and the morning clumsies to pass.
I'm currently working with between two and three dozen active Correspondence Chess games. It's easy for me to make at least one move per day in each of them, sometimes more than that depending on how many chores I have to deal with during he course of a day, and how frequently my opponents all reply. Monday I'll be hit with an additional 15 or 20 active games when play starts in another CC tourney in which I've already been assigned pairings. That will give me the biggest load of active chess games I've ever carried at any one time. I think.
posted Wednesday, Sep 18, 2024 at ~5:15 PM #QNSEP2024
viewEvents today and yesterday have made me realize that I've not been operating nearly as efficiently as I'd like. That may be because I've not been sleeping well recently. Darned insomnia.
Hopefully a good night's sleep tonight will go a long way to putting everything right. And tonight's should be a good sleep. I'm back to reading fiction again, an entertaining fantasy in line with what I've come to be comfortable with. And I'm listening to MLB this evening. That's way more relaxing than the WNBA or NFL games I've been chasing lately.
posted Tuesday, Sep 17, 2024 at ~6:15 PM #QNSEP2024
viewThis has been a productive and smooth Monday. All the regular chores of the day have been handled without any problems or surprises. I do like that.
And I'm all set to follow tonight's Monday Night Football game. I'll probably make it to half time before I have to put head to pillow.
posted Monday, Sep 16, 2024 at ~6:52 PM #QNSEP2024
viewSunday afternoon, following my sports. Glad to see Aaron Rodgers and his NY Jets defeat the Titans in the early NFL game. Also glad I opted to watch the Jets game rather than the Cowboys vs Saints, Cowboys lost.
Wish I could watch the WNBA Indiana Fever vs Dallas Wings game, playing now. I have a WNBA League Pass membership, but they're blocking me from this game, claiming a territorial blackout. (Grr..) At least I can follow the scoring of this game updated live online. Still, I'd much rather be watching the game or at least listening to a live radio play-by-play.
Now I'm watching IndyCar Racing, live running of the Music City Grand Prix. And tonight I'll have another NFL game, Bears vs Texans.
posted Sunday, Sep 15, 2024 at ~3:25 PM #QNSEP2024
viewPictured here are the boards at games' end of two recent Correspondence Chess games I won by checkmate.
Above is pictured a win from yesterday where my Bishop, assisted by my Queen who blocked all possible flight squares, checkmated the Black King.
Below is pictured a win from this morning when my Queen and Rook mated the Black King against an edge of the board.
posted Saturday, Sep 14, 2024 at ~10:45 AM #QNSEP2024
viewFriday, and still recovering. Last Saturday's and last Monday's work out in the yard really wrecked me unexpectedly. Tuesday I had trouble moving around with hip and back pain. Shoulders and hands were problematic, too. Wednesday and Thursday were the worst days for difficulty walking. BUT, Thank God! All those annoying arthritic woes have finally started to lighten up!
posted Friday, Sep 13, 2024 at ~3:05 PM #QNSEP2024
viewMuch of this Thursday morning has been spent tweaking the new OS (Debian 11.10) I installed last night on my big, old laptop. The installation process went smoothly, and adjusting the settings is going well, too.
posted Thursday, Sep 12, 2024 at ~10:33 AM #QNSEP2024
view
I won this Correspondence Chess game yesterday with the White army when my opponent playing Black resigned on his 52nd move. The position of pieces at game's end is shown above. As you can plainly see, he was right to do so. It was going to be a simple matter for me to advance one of my pawns to its last rank and promote it to a 2nd White Queen. And with two Queens I could quickly squeeze his King into a checkmate against an edge of the board.
posted Wednesday, Sep 11, 2024 at ~10:05 AM #QNSEP2024 #chess
viewYesterday's yard work has taken its toll. Or, better said, the work of two out of the three previous days: Saturday's work out back, and Monday morning's work in the front yard. Soreness and weakness in my hands, especially my right hand, and in my back and shoulders, especially my left shoulder, is pretty profound. Despite that I was able to get my weekly laundry done today: two washer and dryer loads, now all folded, hung up, and put away. So now the old boy rests, for a few days anyway.
posted Tuesday, Sep 10, 2024 at ~3:50 PM #QNSEP2024
viewMore chess games coming! Oh, my!
I found the following message waiting for me when I checked into one of my chess clubs this morning:
“Congratulations on being the winner of your group in the 1st round of Casual Chess section, 239th GameKnot tournament! The player with the top score in your group has been moved to the next higher section due to their top rating in the past 90 days exceeding the rating limit of the section, so you will be advancing to the next round as the runner-up.
“2nd round will start on Monday, September 16th, 2024.”
Yikes! I'm already expecting a good number of new games later this month when a tourney over at ICCF in which I'm registered issues pairings and begins play. And now I have these new ones at GameKnot starting next week.
posted Monday, Sep 9, 2024 at ~7:30 AM #QNSEP2024