viewIt was my Bishop that did it, but...
I won this correspondence chess club tournament game yesterday with a 4-piece combination checkmate that I don't remember ever having used before. It is, of course, my Bishop on the c8 square delivering the kill stroke to the White King. But all the possible flight squares available to that White King are covered by: my Black Queen, my pawn on the d6 square, and by my Black King himself. So my Bishop did it, but he had a lot of help.
Our board at game's end is shown above, and our full move record is below:
1.e4 d6 2.d4 b6 3.Nc3 Bb7 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.Bd3 g6 6.h3 Bg7 7.Bc4 O-O 8.Ng5 e6 9.Bxe6 fxe6 10.Nxe6 Qe7 11.Nxf8 Bxf8 12.Qf3 Nc6 13.Bg5 Bg7 14.O-O-O Rf8 15.Rhe1 h6 16.Bxf6 Rxf6 17.Qg3 h5 18.Nd5 Bh6+ 19.f4 Bxf4+ 20.Nxf4 Qf7 21.Rf1 Qxa2 22.d5 Nb4 23.Nxg6 Qa1+ 24.Kd2 Qxb2 25.Ne7+ Kf7 26.Ng8 Qxc2+ 27.Ke1 Rxf1+ 28.Kxf1 Qxd1+ 29.Kf2 Qc2+ 30.Kf3 Qd1+ 31.Kf4 Qd2+ 32.Kf5 Bc8#
0-1
And the adventure continues.
Posted 15/Mar/2021 ~ 09:40 Central Time
#RoscoeEllis #blog #SeniorLiving #chess
viewGood morning, Internet
I have taken my deep breath, and I'm soon to start the day's coffee.
My Sunday is starting later than normal due mostly to an extended insomnia break last night, and partly to the cursed Time Change. But it is starting, thank God.
And the adventure continues.
Posted 14/Mar/2021 ~ 09:45 Central Time
#RoscoeEllis #blog #SeniorLiving #GoodMorning #coffee
viewA Win with White
My opponent playing Black and I had gotten ourselves into an extremely bottled up situation (see the above graphic of our board at game's end) in this rated club game. We both had significant armies of equal size, but neither of us had a positional advantage. For either of us to break through the other's defense, the attacking army would have to sacrifice important material, giving the defender a major advantage.
Fortunately for me, my higher rated opponent simply stopped playing. He let his clock run out, giving me the win today by default.
Our full move record is below:
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. e3 Nf6 4. Nc3 Bf5 5. Bd3 Bxd3 6. Qxd3 e6 7. O-O Bd6 8. a3 h6 9. Re1 O-O 10. Nb5 Be7 11. b3 a6 12. Nc3 b5 13. b4 Bd6 14. g3 e5 15. e4 dxe4 16. Nxe4 Nxe4 17. Qxe4 Nxd4 18. Nxd4 exd4 19. Qxd4 Re8 20. Bb2 f6 21. Qd5+ Kh8 22. Qf7 Rf8 23. Qg6 c5 24. Re4 Rc8 25. Rd1 Qb6 26. Rg4 Rc7 27. Rd5
1-0
And the adventure continues.
Posted 12/Mar/2021 ~ 16:50 Central Time
#RoscoeEllis #blog #SeniorLiving #chess
viewMars!
Watching this 22-minute video, compiled from photos taken less than two weeks ago from a camera on board NASA's Perseverance Rover, did much to improve my state of mind after having scanned the morning's “news.”
From Rumble, the site where this is found:
NASA's Perseverance rover has captured its highest-resolution panorama yet of the Martian surface. Stitched together from 79 individual images, this Mastcam-Z right-eye 110-mm zoom mosaic is from the camera's first high-resolution panorama imaging sequence. These images were taken on the afternoon of Sol 4 (Feb. 22, 2021) of the mission; a sol is a Martian day. Credit to "NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS".
And as an aside, the comments left by flat-earthers and other trolls below the video on Rumble further justify my decision to have NO COMMENT FUNCTION on any of my blogs!
And the adventure continues.
Posted 06/Mar/2021 ~ 11:10 Central Time
#RoscoeEllis #blog #SeniorLiving #science
viewHappy Texas Independence Day!
Texas Independence Day explained:
Texas Independence Day commemorates the adoption of the Texas Declaration of Independence on March 2, 1836. This event marked Texas’ independence from Mexico. Sixty delegates from all over Texas signed the declaration. Its language in many ways parallels the 1776 Declaration of Independence of the United States, which is observed on Independence Day, also known as “the fourth of July”.
The Republic of Texas was annexed to the US by joint resolution of the US Congress nine years after the Texas Declaration of Independence was signed. The US Congress then admitted Texas as a constituent state of the Union on December 29, 1845. Texas Independence Day is an official holiday in Texas. Sam Houston Day is also observed on March 2, marking the birthday of the man who led the Texans to victory over Mexican troops at the battle of San Jacinto.
And the adventure continues.
Posted 02/Mar/2021 ~ 09:20 Central Time
#RoscoeEllis #blog #SeniorLiving #history #patriotism #Texas
viewA Black Win by Q-N-R Combination Checkmate
This morning I won a correspondence chess club tournament game with a Queen-Rook-Knight combination checkmate. The position of pieces at game's end is pictured at the top of this post, and our full move record is below:
1. e4 Nc6 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 e5 4. d5 Nd4 5. Nxd4 exd4 6. Qxd4 Nf6 7. Bg5 Be7 8. Bb5+ Bd7 9. Nc3 O-O 10. O-O c5 11. Qe3 Ng4 12. Qd2 Bxg5 13. Qe2 Bf6 14. h3 Ne5 15. a4 Bxb5 16. Nxb5 a6 17. Nc3 c4 18. Rab1 Qc7 19. Qe3 h6 20. f4 Nd7 21. Qg3 Rfe8 22. Rbd1 Qc5+ 23. Rf2 Bxc3 24. bxc3 Nb6 25. Rb1 a5 26. f5 f6 27. Kh1 Rxe4 28. Rf4 Rxf4 29. Qxf4 Re8 30. Rd1 Nxd5 31. Qf3 Ne3 32. Re1 Re5 33. Re2 Nxf5 34. Rd2 Re1+ 35. Kh2 Qg1#
0-1
And the adventure continues.
Posted 01/Mar/2021 ~ 11:50 Central Time
#RoscoeEllis #blog #SeniorLiving #chess
viewFrom across the room...
Relaxing on a midday Saturday, watching Big 10 Basketball on TV from the comfort of a big brown recliner in our front room. Even though Michigan is manhandling the Hoosiers today, I always like watching IU basketball, especially when they're playing home games. Assembly Hall holds many happy memories from years lived in Bloomington.
As an aside, now that my eyesight is getting shakier I'm realizing that a larger screen would make TV watching easier. And there is room for a much larger screen TV in that wall unit across the room from where we often sit. Maybe I can work that into the budget later this year. We'll see...
And the adventure continues.
Posted 27/Feb/2021 ~ 12:30 Central Time
#RoscoeEllis #blog #SeniorLiving #TV #basketball #Bloomington
viewA Win With Black
Earlier today my opponent playing White resigned this club tournament game after my 31...f3, giving me the win with Black. He was right to do this. At this point in our endgame he only had one major piece left on the board, the Bishop he'd just pushed to the c1 square, while I had a Rook, a Knight, and I was only two moves away from promoting a pawn to a Queen.
The position of pieces at game's end is shown above, and our full move record is below.
1. e4 a6 2. Qh5 g6 3. Qf3 e5 4. Bc4 Qe7 5. Nc3 Nf6 6. Nd5 Nxd5 7. Bxd5 d6 8. d3 c6 9. Bb3 h5 10. h3 Be6 11. Bxe6 Qxe6 12. g4 Nd7 13. c4 O-O-O 14. Ne2 hxg4 15. hxg4 Qf6 16. Qxf6 Nxf6 17. f3 Rxh1+ 18. Kd2 d5 19. b3 Bb4+ 20. Kc2 dxe4
21. fxe4 Nxg4 22. a3 Bc5 23. b4 Bd4 24. Nxd4 exd4 25. Kb2 Rh2+ 26. Kb3 Rh1 27. Bb2 Rxa1 28. Bxa1 f5 29. exf5 gxf5 30. Bb2 f4 31. Bc1 f3
0-1
And the adventure continues.
Posted 24/Feb/2021 ~ 17:00 Central Time
#RoscoeEllis #blog #SeniorLiving #chess
viewThis can't be good, right?
I've not paid much attention to this huge old pecan tree in my front yard since I did a mid or late January cutting of the grass. But this morning my eyes were drawn to a basketball-sized hole in one of the main branches near the trunk.
This camera phone photo snapped a few minuts ago doesn't do justice to the jet black, rot-looking interior of the hole that reaches down into the main trunk.
So I've called the landlord and described the situation to him. He says he'll either send one of his contactors or come by himself to inspect it.
Hopefully the hole can be cleaned out and filled with some kind of putty to save the tree. I'd hate to see the thing have to be cut down. But I'd rather see it cut down than have it fall down against the houe, or crush my neighbor's car.
And the adventure continues.
Posted 22/Feb/2021 ~ 10:35 Central Time
#RoscoeEllis #blog #SeniorLiving #tree
viewMoving on up
Playing in club chess tournaments is often a very humbling experience. Trying my very best but losing, sometimes quickly, does not instill a sense of confidence. But then there are moments that make me smile.
This morning I received an email from one of the clubs in which I play notifying me that I'd won a section in a tournament there and was being “bumped up” to play the next round against more advanced opponents. This made me smile.
And the adventure continues.
Posted 17/Feb/2021 ~ 09:15 Central Time
#RoscoeEllis #blog #SeniorLiving #chess