viewMy workout buddies
Taking advantage of more beautiful weather, I had a good workout in the back yard this afternoon.
Accompanied by my good friends: 1.) the big organics bin, which was empty when the workout started but is now filled, 2.) my trusty lawn rake, 3.) the collapsible canvas leaf can, and 4.) my new little lawnmower, which I have come to really REALLY like, I worked up a healthy sweat and soaked up some natural Vitamin D courtesy of the South Texas Sun. By the time we finished, things were looking much better back there.
And the adventure continues.
Posted 29/Jan/2021 ~ 16:45 Central Time
#RoscoeEllis #blog #tools #home
by Roscoe
When I moved from Indiana to South Texas twenty years ago I was struggling (yeah, right) to get and keep my body weight down in the 220's. It was pretty consistently in the low to mid 230's then and I did not like that at all.
During the intervening years from then to now the weight increased slowly but steadily until it peaked at 255 lbs. Every time it got up into the 250s I'd begin trying more seriously to lose some until the body weight dropped down into the mid-240s, which I mistakenly considered my “normal.” And I held onto that mindset until as recently as this past December.
This morning the bathroom scales registered 232 lbs. after several days of moving steadily down through the 230s. And I'm feeling so much better! So after twenty years here in San Antonio I'm finally twenty pounds down.
If (when!) I drop another twenty pounds I'll be the same size as when I moved from Bloomington to Indianapolis. And another 10 or 15 pounds beyond that I'll be back to the man I used to be when I was zipping around in a UPS package car.
And the adventure continues.
Posted 29/Jan/2021 ~ 11:30 Central Time
#RoscoeEllis #blog #SeniorLiving #health
by Roscoe
Earlier today my opponent playing the Black pieces resigned this game, giving me the victory with my White army. He was certainly right to resign when he did. After my Bishop captured his Knight at 27.Bxc4 he was left with only a Rook against my Rook and Queen.
Our board at game's end is shown above, and our moce record below:
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 Bg4 5.h3 Bxf3 6.exf3 e6 7.Bd3 c5 8.O-O cxd4 9.Nb5 Qb6 10.Qa4 Nc6 11.cxd5 exd5 12.Re1+ Be7 13.a3 O-O 14.b4 a6 15.Nxd4 Rfe8 16.Be3 Nxd4 17.Rac1 Nb5 18.Bxb6 Nd7 19.Be3 Nb6 20.Bxb6 Nd6 21.Bc5 b5 22.Qd1 a5 23.a4 Nc4 24.Rc2 Bxc5 25.bxc5 bxa4 26.Rxe8+ Rxe8 27.Bxc4
1-0
And the adventure continues.
Posted 24/Jan/2021 ~ 18:30 Central Time
#RoscoeEllis #blog #SeniorLiving #chess
by Roscoe
... that just as my chess-Friday ended by winning a cc game with a combination checkmate involving Knight, Queen, pawns, and a Rook, my chess-Saturday should end similarly.
The two games were played against different opponents, in different tournaments hosted by different chess clubs, but still... In the Saturday night checkmate it is my Rook that making the primary attack, but the Queen, Knight, and pawns all play their parts by sealing off any possible flight squares to which the Black King could try to escape.
The board at the end of the Saturday night game is pictured above, and its move record is below:
1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 d5 3.Nf3 h6 4.Bxf6 gxf6 5.h3 Nc6 6.e3 e6 7.a3 b6 8.Bb5 Bb7 9.O-O e5 10.dxe5 Bc5 11.Re1 O-O 12.b4 Nxe5 13.bxc5 Nxf3+ 14.Qxf3 d4 15.Qxb7 Qb8 16.Qf3 bxc5 17.Bc6 Qb2 18.Nd2 Qxc2 19.Bxa8 Rxa8 20.Qxa8+ Kg7 21.Ne4 f5 22.Ng3 dxe3 23.Nxf5+ Kg6 24.Nxe3 Qa4 25.Rec1 f5 26.Qg8+ Kh5 27.Nxf5 Qf4 28.Ng3+ Kh4 29.Qd8+ Qg5 30.Rc4#
1-0
And the adventure continues.
Posted 24/Jan/2021 ~ 09:50 Central Time
#RoscoeEllis #blog #SeniorLiving #chess
by Roscoe
viewA Win with Black
In my Saturday morning mail was a notice that I'd won another correspondence chess club tournament game.
After my Black Queen captured his White Queen at 24...Qxd4 White resigned from our game giving me the victory by default. He was right to do this. After losing his Queen he had only one major piece left in his army, that lonely Rook on the f1 square. My Black army, on the other hand, had five major pieces including my Queen, the Bishop pair, and a Knight. With my overwhelming material advantage, checkmating his King was inevitable.
Our board at game's end is pictured above, and our move record below:
1.e4 d6 2.Bc4 e6 3.Qe2 a6 4.d4 b5 5.d5 bxc4 6.Qxc4 Nf6 7.Bg5 h6 8.Bxf6 gxf6 9.Nc3 Rg8 10.g3 Bg7 11.dxe6 Bxe6 12.Qe2 Nc6 13.O-O-O Qe7 14.f3 O-O-O 15.Qxa6+ Kd7 16.Nb5 Nb8 17.Qa7 Rc8 18.Ne2 Bc4 19.Nxd6 Bxe2 20.Nxc8+ Kxc8 21.Rd4 Rd8 22.Re1 Bxf3 23.Rxd8+ Qxd8 24.Qd4 Qxd4
0-1
And the adventure continues.
Posted 23/Jan/2021 ~ 10:20 Central Time
#RoscoeEllis #blog #SeniorLiving #chess
by Roscoe
Tonight I won this correspondence chess game with a Knight-pawn-Queen-Rook combination checkmate. My c6-Knight is the attacking piece. Black has nothing that can capture that Knight, and every possible flight square to which his King might try to escape is covered by that Knight, or by the pawns on the 4th rank, or by my White Queen, or by my a1-Rook. So... checkmate
The position of pieces at games end is pictured above, and our full move record is below:
1.d4 e6 2.c4 Bb4+ 3.Bd2 Bd6 4.Nc3 Qe7 5.Nf3 b6 6.g3 Bb7 7.Bg2 Nf6 8.O-O Na6 9.Bg5 h6 10.Bxf6 Qxf6 11.e4 O-O-O 12. e5 Qe7 13.exd6 cxd6 14.Re1 f5 15.Ne2 h5 16.h4 Rdf8 17.Nf4 Rh6 18.a3 d5 19.Ne5 dxc4 20.Bxb7+ Kxb7 21. fg6 Qf6 22.Nxd7 Qf7 23.Ngxf8 Nb8 24.Qf3+ Ka6 25.Nxb8+ Kb5 26.a4+ Kb4 27.Nc6#
1-0
And the adventure continues.
Posted 22/Jan/2021 ~ 19:15 Central Time
#RoscoeEllis #blog #SeniorLiving #chess
by Roscoe
My opponent playing the White pieces simply let her clock run out in this Corrrespondence Chess game yesterday without making a move, giving me a win with Black by default. We were playing with the very relaxed time control of 5 days per move, so she had plenty of time to politely resign if she wanted to. But, nooo... she just silently walked away.
At least we'd made enough moves so this counts as a real game, and I do get credit for the win, so there is that.
The final position of the pieces is above, and our complete, but very short move record is below:
1.e4 d6 2.Bb5+ Bd7 3.h4 Bxb5 4.d3 h6 5.g4 e5 6.Nh3 Ne7 7.g5 Nbc6 8.f4 exf4 9.Nxf4 Nd4 10.c3 Ne6 11.Nd5 Nxd5 12.exd5 Nc5 13.d4 Qe7+ 14.Kd2 Ne4+
0-1
And the adventure continues.
Posted 20/Jan/2021 ~ 12:45 Central Time
#RoscoeEllis #blog #SeniorLiving #chess
by Roscoe
Email this morning brought notification that I'd won another Correspondence Chess game as my opponent playing White resigned, giving me the win by default..
My 14...Nxf3+, forking White's King, his Queen, and his Rook does look rather dramatic on the face of it. White's next move, of course would have been to capture that attacking Knight with his g-pawn.
But then I could have put his King in check again with another fork attack, my Black Bishop taking his f-pawn, the Bishop there being defended by my Knight at g4. After he moved his King to safety I'd have traded that Bishop for his e1-Rook.
This was my first time playing this particular opponent, and I'm rather surprised that he resigned the game to me when he did. Some guys are really attached to their Rooks, and losing one feels almost like losing a Queen to them. Perhaps he's one of those. Who knows?
At any rate, our board at game's end is pictured above and our full move record is below.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.c3 a6 5.Ba4 Bc5 6.d4 b5 7.Bc2 Ba7 8.O-O O-O 9.dxe5 Ng4 10.Bf4 h6 11.Qd2 Re8 12.Na3 Bb7 13.h3 Ncxe5 14.Rfe1 Nxf3+
0-1
And the adventure continues.
Posted 19/Jan/2021 ~ 11:35 Central Time
#RoscoeEllis #blog #SeniorLiving #chess
by Roscoe
I FINALLY won this Correspondence Chess game that seemed to drag on forever. Black simply would not give up even when he had no chance of winning. He was probably hoping to force a stalemate if I failed to manage my pawns and Rook properly. But... that was not to be.
My checkmate was finally delivered with my 53rd move this afternoon.. Position of pieces at game's end is posted above, and our full move record below:
1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.a3 b5 6.Nxb5 c6 7.Nc3 g6 8.e4 Bb7 9.Bxc4 c5 10.O-O Bg7 11.Re1 O-O 12.Bg5 h6 13. Bxf6 Qxf6 14. Rc1 Nc6 15. d5 exd5 16. Bxd5 Rad8 17.e5 Qf4 18.g3 Qf5 19.e6 fxe6 20.Bxe6+ Qxe6 21.Rxe6 Rxd1+ 22.Rxd1 Rxf3 23.Nb5 Bxb2 24.Nd6 Nd4 25.Nxb7 c4 26.Nc5 Ne2+ 27.Kg2 Nc3 28.Rd8+ Rf8 29.Rxg6+ Kf7 30.Rgd6 Bxa3 31.Rxf8+ Kxf8 32.Rc6 Bxc5 33.Rxc5 Ne4 34.Rxc4 Nd6 35.Rc6 Nf5 36.Ra6 h5 37.Rf6+ Ke7 38.Rxf5 Ke6 39.Rxh5 a6 40.Rh6+ Kf5 41.Rxa6 Kg4 42.h3+ Kh5 43.Ra5+ Kh6 44.h4 Kh7 45.g4 Kg6 46.f4 Kh6 47.h5 Kh7 48.Ra6 Kg7 49.g5 Kh7 50.h6 Kh8 51.g6 Kg8 52.Ra7 Kh8 53.Ra8#
1-0
And the adventure continues.
Posted 16/Jan/2021 ~ 17:40 Central Time
#RoscoeEllis #blog #SeniorLiving #chess
by Roscoe
All day long I've been tracking a shipment on its way to me. Using the live map tracking feature that UPS provides I've been able to follow the package car carrying my box.
And soon... soon it will be here. According to the map it's almost here... almost.
Posted 12/Jan/2020 ~ 17:00 Central Time
#RoscoeEllis #blog #package #map
by Roscoe