During my wakeful morning I put together a poll for the
guppies community, asking for help in deciding which species of livebearing fish to place in my new cheap used aquarium. This community is not rabid with readers, and thus far only two people have voted in my poll. So far the guppies are winning. I was kinda rooting for the miniature livebearers.I worked a very busy day today, knocking off only at 8 p.m. or so. My wife called this afternoon to advise she has been invited to visit an old high school friend up in Nebraska, so I will continue to follow my "home alone" solo ways. I looked up chess tournaments in the Dallas/Fort Worth area on the internet, and found that the Dallas Chess Club is sponsoring a tournament this very weekend. But I don't think I'm up to sacrificing both days to a chess tournament, particularly when I need exercise and to get work done. I may have to play some blitz chess at the Internet Chess Club.
I feel as though I should start my own chess club. No dues,
no prizes, no stress, no pressure, tournaments held for ratings only, entry fees donated to charity. I used to be a "tournament director" (TD), although I do not really like to be in the "adjudicator" role. I'm much more an advocate than a judge when it comes to chess.
I wrote an e mail to the USCF to ask how to get my TD license renewed and I also wrote an e mail to Grandmaster Walter Browne, who runs the World Blitz Chess Association. I used to go to Chess Palace in Long Beach, where they had Friday night WBCA tournaments. One might play 20 to 40 games in a single evening, against players ranging from strong master down to weakest patzer.
In blitz chess, each party's side of the "two faced clock" is set at five minutes. One must make all one's moves within that time; otherwise, the game is lost. The result is something much like chess, but actually rather distinct from chess. I was reading that someone wrote a book about the differences, which interests me. The "problem", in blitz, you see, is that you don't have time to play complicated ideas. Given the choice between the simple and okay and the elaborate and possibly brilliant, one must choose simple and easily calculable but only okay almost every time. I find some metaphor for life in all that, because I sometimes "feel" my five minutes ticking away, and all I'm hunting are some simple moves.